Descendants 3: Land of the Dead
by Jigsaw9856
Summary: Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay are finished with their final year at Auradon Prep and are ready to move on with their lives. But the son of one of Disney's greatest villain emerges with a plan that threatens everyone they love. Will the four friends be able to overcome this new enemy?
1. Something Wicked this way

Nighttime at Auradon Prep. It was the day before the last day of school. The students were asleep waiting the next day when they would finish their classes. The academy was silent. Except for one area: the Museum of Cultural History. It was here that various memento and objects of fascination from stories past were kept for the ever curious. And the security team was hard at work making sure they would not be stolen.

The head of security, a guard named Frank, was completing his patrol of the perimeter. He glanced around to make sure no one was coming. When he was certain no one was, he pulled put his walkie talkie from his pocket.

"Red Seal, this is Papa Bear. Everything looks clear down here. How are things on your end?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary here boss."

"Alright; Red Wolf how are things with you?"

"Quiet as a grave here boss. Let's hope things stay that way the rest of the night."

Frank chuckled. "I hear that; how about you, Red Eagle?"

This time, however, Frank did not get a response.

"Red Eagle, do you copy? How are things on your end?"

Again, silence. It did not take a genius to figure out something was up.

"Guys, something's happening over near Red Eagle's position. Can someone go check on him?"

Frank got a response from Red Seal. "I've got it boss. I'll figure out-" but Red Seal didn't finish that sentence as the frequency was abruptly cut off.

"Red Seal, what's happening on your end?" After he received no response, Frank rushed to the main office as fast as he could.

"We got a potential break in! Sound all alarms and cover all exits! We can't let them escape from here!"

Unfortunately for Frank he looked around the main office. All the guards stationed in there were already dead.

"My god, what could have done this?"

Frank heard a sound and turned around to face it, his gun already out and pointed at the source. He was met with a young man, possibly no older than 19, with a hunting rifle pointed right at Frank. For a while they both stood in silence. Eventually the young man broke the silence.

"Wow wow wow. All these guards ended up dead on your watch, copper? You must not be very good at your job then mate."

"Shut up scumbag. And get on the ground. You're under arrest."

"For what? Killing your friends? Ah but you see I didn't kill them. That would have to be my friends."

The young man stepped to the left of the doorway, Frank still having his gun pointed at him. They were soon joined by a young woman wielding two cutlasses and another young man holding a giant broadsword. They all looked to be as old as the young man with the rifle.

"Who the hell are you people?" asked Frank.

But he did not get an answer. Instead the young woman threw a dagger that embedded itself near Frank's shoulder and pinned him to the wall. She then went over and removed his gun, afterwards she just tossed it away like it was nothing.

"Hush now mate. The boss is coming over."

And before Frank could comprehend what was going on, they were soon joined by a third young man, who looked to be about 21. He had flaming red hair, pitch black eyes, and a very evil grin on his face. The man shook his head at Frank. Then he took off the trench coat he had on to expose his bare arm.

"Tsk tsk. Do you see this?" He pointed at what looked like a small wound on his shoulder; Frank could even see blood flowing out from it.

"You know the darndest thing just happened. I and my friends were out looking for some fun, when we thought we'd just break in here and steal some stuff. And how do your guards respond? Well they started shooting at us. One of them even did this to my arm. I mean talk about overreacting, way to blow things out of proportion know what I mean?"

And then without a warning the man put both his hands on Frank's face and began squeezing. Frank felt the life being forced out of him; he had never felt so much pain. And before he could try to fight back, his eyes went dark: Frank, the head of Security at The Museum of Cultural History, was dead, his face now a bare skull.

The young man threw Frank's body aside and sighed. He looked at the spot on his arm and smiled when he saw the wound was healed. Then he went over to his trench coat, pulled out a cigarette, and began smoking it.

"Alright Kat, Carter, Morty…."

The man with the broadsword frowned. "Do not call me that."

"Relax. Now congrats on phase one going off without too many problems. But we're on a schedule and we have some things to nab. So let's get back to work."

The group split up in different directions, each with their own task. The one with the trench coat went to what he wanted the most: access to the Vault of the most dangerous and valuable objects. He saw what looked like a control panel off to the side and frowned.

"Hey Kat, can you lend me one of those things?"

The girl tossed him one of her cutlasses which he caught. He went over to a guard and sliced off his hand. He selected the dead guard's thumb and put it directly on the panel. After a few seconds, to verify that the print was indeed that of the guard, the door opened. The young man went in and began taking in his surroundings. So many treasures and relics. The Genie's lamp, a bell from Notre Dame itself, a video game console entitled _Fix It Felix JR._ , and so many others. And then he saw it: the object he had entered the vault for.

"The spindle. The same one that Maleficent used to put Princess Aurora into eternal sleep. Guys I found it. Let's get out of here."

His companions arrived and lifted up the spindle to carry it out.

"Hold on; did you guys get the other thing we came for?"

Carter rolled his eyes and tossed him a very small object.

"The compass of the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow himself. Said to be able to lead one to whatever its heart desires the most. Fortunately for us, my heart only yearns for two things presently." He flipped it shut. "Good job."

They began making their exit with the spindle. Suddenly their boss stopped in his track to stare at an object that piqued his curiosity.

"Boss, why did you stop? We gotta leave right now."

The others joined their boss. They saw what had its hold on their boss's attention: a picture of four friends.

"Now just who do we have here? Quite a nice collection of friends."

Kat leaned in closer to examine description to the right of the painting. "Says here that they're Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Mal." Her eyes focused on Carlos. "Oh he's cute."

"Ah yes, I think I heard something about these fellas before. They're all the children of villains just like us. Well, except for you Morty."

"Ok, I'm really starting to get annoyed by that."

Their boss paid him no heed. Instead he took the picture off the wall and stared at it evilly.

"So you kids think you're rotten to the core huh?" He took the cigarette out of his mouth and put the burning end over Mal's face. "Then wait till you get a load of me."

So think of this sort of like a pilot for a TV Show. I will be writing this when I get the chance but as of now there is no release schedule. I don't own anything. If you like this than please review. I can take criticism.


	2. The Council of Auradon

In a giant conference room, a bunch of adults sat in solemn silence. Amongst their ranks sat Aladdin, Quasimodo, King Beast, King Arthur, and Queen Aurora. Most of the council, for one reason or another, could not be there.

Aurora broke the silence. "So what do we know about last night?"

Aladdin spoke up. "Not much. We've got at least eight dead security guards. They took out most of the security cameras. But there was one they missed."

"Is there any footage on that camera that we can view?" asked Quasimodo.

King Beast looked up. "I was able to look at it earlier with Belle. I'll bring it up on the screen for us all to see."

Beast pressed a button. Next thing they knew, the giant monitor behind them was filled with what little footage the camera had managed to obtain.

"There's some footage that's a little grainy. But we should be able to at least make the identities of the assailants from last night."

Beast fast-forwarded until they say all four culprits on screen in the museum.

It was then that King Arthur spoke up for the first time that meeting. "Wait." He pointed to one of the figures: the one with the broadsword. "Is there some way you can zoom in on that one's face?" Ben pressed on his remote. Within seconds they had a better view his face. Arthur silently cursed under his breath.

"What is it? Do you recognize him?" asked Aurora, a tone of sympathy in her voice.

"Or course I recognize him. He's my own son, Mordred."

Soon there were murmurs amongst the rest of the council.

"Poor Guinevere's feared for him ever since the day he was born. Merlin always sensed much darkness in his heart. We thought that if we sent him to study under Merlin like he taught me, it would do him some good. But there was just so much hate in him. In the end he turned on us all and nearly killed Merlin. I've been trying to find him ever since."

King Beast pressed on with the footage. Next there was the young man with the rifle.

"Does anyone recognize this one?"

Quasimodo pulled out a dossier that he had found which contained the rap sheets of the various known criminals and repeat offenders that they had on record. He dug through it until he found one with a face that matched the one on the screen.

"Here we go. It says here his name is Carter Clayton, son of John Clayton. Like his dad he's said to be an expert marksman. According to Eugene, he's apparently responsible for a good amount of our dead guards last night."

Again there was more murmuring among the council.

King Beast then zoomed in on the young lady wielding the two cutlasses. Once more Quasimodo looked through his records.

"Says here her name is Katerina, daughter of Captain Hook. She's an expert swordsman and handy with firearms and explosives. Not above fighting dirty. Just like any other pirate."

And finally that left the young man in a trench coat smoking a cigarette. Quasimodo looked through his records one final time. When he thought he came to the matching one, he froze as if completely taken over by fear.

"What is it Quasi? Do you know who this guy is?" asked Beast.

"I have an idea, but it isn't pretty."

"Well out with it. We need to know who we're dealing with."

"You're not going to like this. According to this, the young man before us…is Pluto, son of Hades."

Everyone in the room fell completely silent.

Beast cleared his throat. "Well that certainly raises the threat level. Do we have any idea on what was stolen?"

Aladdin shook his head. "According to the reports, the only thing stolen was the spindle and Captain Jack's compass."

Aurora interjected. "Why go to all this trouble just to steal two invaluable things?"

Arthur raised a finger. "The spindle may not be much on its own, but if one is clever it may possess a talent few people even have knowledge of. As for the compass, remember that it can lead anyone to what their heart desires. And in this case I think I know exactly what he is after."

Beast spoke with a worried look on his face. "You don't think he's trying to fulfill the requirements of the forbidden spell, do you?"

"That's exactly what I think are his intentions. I just wish I knew what two items he intends to acquire next."

Suddenly the doors burst open and in came Eugene Fitzherbert, the new head of security after the untimely death of Frank.

"Hey guys just thought you should know while we continued our investigation we were able to find this. It looks to be some sort of list."

He handed it to Beast who then passed it around to everyone else in the room.

Aurora pondered what this meant. "What are these items on the list?"

"These are all potential items needed to complete the forbidden spell. Notice how the spindle is near the top of the list."

Aladdin pointed something out. "And look, this one at the bottom is circled."

Beast put the list down. "I'd say this is as good as any lead on where it is Pluto and his gang is headed to next. Now we must decide on how to proceed."

Quasimodo spoke up. "We should assemble a team to intercept them and bring them back here for punishment. The only question is who?"

It was Aurora's turn to speak. "I think it should be led by your son Ben. He's a natural leader and the one most suited to the task."

Beast shook his head. "'I don't like it. But of this needs to be done, then so be it. Anyone else?"

Quasimodo spoke up. "I believe it should be the villain kids. I've read their profiles; I think I can make it so they can agree to this mission without arousing too much of their suspicion. "

Beast frowned. "You're sure of this?"

"Yes."

"Very well then."

Beast turned to address Eugene.

"Eugene, find my son and tell him to get Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos to come to us as soon as possible."


	3. At the End of the Day

_Tick, Tock-Tick, Tock_

And so it went with the passing hands of the clock. Each movement meant it was 1 second closer to the end of the day. This was something Jay was anticipating all too eagerly. For today was the last day of classes for the semester. Once that clock struck 2:00, summer vacation would be officially underway. It was going to be a summer which he was looking forward to spending with his friends.

5...4...3...2...1...

 _Ring!_

The bell began ringing. The teacher, Ms. Fairy Godmother herself, went to the front of the classroom.

"Well class you all know what that means. Turn in your finals on my desk and have a wonderful summer!"

Jay grabbed his paper (making sure to sign his name first, something which he had forgotten at least once in the past) and put it on the teacher's desk. Then he rushed out of the classroom along with all the other students. Once in the hallway he scanned for his best friends. It did not take him long before he spotted Carlos and went over to him.

"Amigo! Another semester has come and gone now! Now we can celebrate with some fun."

"Hey Jay. I don't suppose you've seen Mal or Evie."

"They should be here soon. Mal told me their last test was not going to be an easy one. Kind of makes me glad I don't take advanced magic."

Sure enough within seconds Mal and Evie had found their way over to them. All four of them shared a group hug.

"Finally, we are done! Nothing is worse than stress from studying! It totally messes with my complexion." Evie pulled out a mirror and began applying some make up. Mal just rolled her eyes.

Jay got annoyed. "Enough with this! Come on guys, this is the most fun time of the year. We should go somewhere fun to celebrate! I'm thinking maybe Paris, or Corona; or maybe San Fransokyo!"

To Jay's surprise his friends didn't seem to be as interested as him. In fact they seemed to be looking down at their feet.

"What's wrong? You guys don't like those places?"

Evie spoke up first. "We do Jay. It's just that, well, this summer I got an offer to go to fashion school. Got to start thinking on the future right?" Evie let out a really forced chuckle.

"You're going to fashion school? I didn't know that. Who's the teacher?"

"Some old woman. I think her last name was Mode or something."

"Oh, well okay then. I guess it's just the three of us then."

Mal didn't look Jay in the eye.

"What you got something planned too?"

"Sorry Jay. I got an offer to study magic under Master Yen Sid. He hasn't chosen an apprentice in over 30 years. He thinks that I show a lot of potential."

"Wow, that's great Mal." Jay went over and gave the two girls another hug. "Ok well guess it's just the two guys then."

Carlos let out a forced laugh of his own.

"Oh come on! Not you too?"

"Actually I'm going up to the Auradon Naval Academy. I'm supposed to leave in two days."

Jay's frustration was soon replaced with a sly grin. "Oh I get it, good for you. So you're going to visit her? Good for you man."

Over a year ago there had been a special orientation day between Auradon Prep and the Auradon Naval Academy. It was a day for students of the two schools to get together, hang out, and establish new friendships. It was there that Carlos had met her: Carroll Hawkins, the daughter of Alice and Jim Hawkins. Like her father she was studying to be a general. Though his friends couldn't explain it, once Carlos and Carroll saw each other it was like a spark went off. So for the last year they were doing one of those long distance relationships.

"You're a lucky man Carlos."

Mal spoke up. "Sorry we didn't tell you Jay."

"Hey it's cool, I'm happy for you all. I'm just at a lost for what I should do."

Evie's turn. "You could join the nature club. I heard they're still looking for people to go on their summer long field trip. They've got Jane, Lonnie, Merida's daughter Nora…"

Carlos piped in. "And I think Melody signed up too."

Jay chuckled. "A field trip with a bunch of girls, all single? That doesn't sound half bad."

Before they could continue their conversation, they were interrupted by Audrey.

"Okay, what did you guys do? And don't try to pretend you're innocent this time."

Mal was a little offended. "What are you talking about Audrey?"

"I said don't play innocent. I know it was you guys."

Mal was getting annoyed. "Audrey, we don't know what you're talking about. So please enlighten us."

Audrey looked like she was going to explode. "You guys…I don't know! All I do know is that my Mom said something bad happened last night. She wouldn't give me any details."

Evie interjected. "Audrey I don't know what it is you think that we did, but I can assure the only thing we did last night was study for our final exams. Isn't that right guys?" All three of her friends nodded.

"Wait, so you guys weren't the ones responsible for whatever happened last night?" She was met with an annoyed look from Mal and the rest of them shaking their heads no. Audrey then turned red and began apologizing. "I'm so sorry it's just that well my Mom told me that something bad happened and, well my first assumption was it was some prank you guys did…."

Mal just scratched her forehead with her palm. "It's all right Audrey, at this point we've just come to accept this kind of stuff."

Audrey tried to compose herself. "But wait, it whoever did that thing last night wasn't you guys, then who was it?"

Before any of them could answer, they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Ben who wrapped Mal in his arms.

"It's good to see you guys. What are you talking about?"

Jay piped in. "Audrey was just accusing us of something we didn't do, something which apparently happened last night."

Audrey just hanged her head in shame.

Mal took the chance to ask what was on her mind. "Do you know anything on what happened last night Ben?"

Ben shook his head. "Unfortunately not. But I do know that the council wants to see you all right now, that's why I'm here they sent me to fetch you."

Evie pondered. "The council wants to see us after the night of something strange happening. That can't be a coincidence. Do you think these two are connected?"

Ben shrugged. "There's only one way to find out."


	4. Your mission, should you accept it

Chapter 4: Your Mission, Should you choose to accept it

The group of friends waited outside the council chambers as the adults finished discussing…whatever it was they were discussing. When they were finished Eugene came out.

"Alright kids. King Beast and the rest of the council have finished and would like to talk with you. So follow me."

Eugene led them into the main hall where the council was seated. King Beast stood up and cleared his throat.

"Good day to you all. I'm not sure if you're aware but last night at the Museum there was, well, an incident."

Evie raised her hand to speak which Beast acknowledged. "Actually sir, we already knew. In fact, Audrey incorrectly assumed that we were responsible for it."

Aurora rubbed her forehead. "I'll have to have a word with her."

King Beast ignored that and continued with the briefing. "Anyways you're all here to discuss the events of the incident from last night. At the Museum around 2:15 there was a break in. Before you ask, yes they did take something: the spindle that was used to put Aurora into a deep slumber. For what reason, we don't know."

Carlos raised his hand this time. "Forgive me for asking sir, but what does any of this have to do with us?"

"I'm glad you asked that Carlos. We believe that we know the location of where these culprits are going to strike next. We want you and Ben here to intercept them and bring them back here so they can face punishment for their crimes."

Jay raised his hand this time. "And why do you want us to catch these guys? Don't you have like, guards for this sort of thing?"

Quasimodo took this as his que and stood up. "If you would permit me, we have information that, with one exception, the culprits were all the kids of villains, the same as you are. Given the common ground that you all share, we hope that you'll be able to reason with them. But if it makes you feel better, we will be sending some guards with you for this task."

Jay didn't know what to think of this. "Can you give us a minute to discuss this?"

"Of course."

The five friends huddled up in a small circle.

Evie spoke first. "I don't like this. An assignment like this sounds too dangerous for us to handle."

Carlos interjected. "I agree with Evie."

Jay shook his head in agreement. "If you ask me we should just say no."

Mal however had a different thought. "I think we should accept this."

The rest of the group couldn't believe this. "WHAT?"

Mal shrugged. "Look call me crazy but hear me out. King Beast said they're all kids of villains just like us. We used to be rebellious when we were younger. But ever since we've come here we've had a change of our hearts and become better. If there's a chance that we can save these kids as well, we have to take it."

Her friends looked at Mal like she was crazy. But Ben just pulled her in for a hug. "If that's what you believe, then I'll stand by you."

Mal looked to the rest of her friends. "And how do the rest of you feel?"

Evie looked to Carlos and Jay. They both gave her the same understanding look. "Alright Mal you're our friend so we're you to the end. But we really don't like this."

Mal gave Evie a hug. "Thank you, all of you."

The friends turned back to look at the council. "We accept. But before we go we'd like to know just who it is we're up against."

King Beast pulled up the four photos of the culprits. He selected the one with rifle and Aladdin stood up.

"This here is Carter Clayton, son of Tarzan's enemy John Clayton. He's an expert marksman who claims to have never missed a shot."

Beast pulled up the photo of the young woman and Aurora stood up.

"This is Katerina Hook, daughter of Captain Hook. She's skilled with swordplay and loves explosives."

Beast pulled up the photo of the man with the sword and Arthur stood up.

"This one is my own son, Mordred. He's as skilled as I am with a sword and even more dangerous."

Evie gulped.

Beast pulled of the last photo of the very angry red haired man. Quasimodo stood up.

"This…..is Pluto, the son of Hades. As a demigod, he possesses some of his father's powers. Tread with caution around this one."

Jay interrupted. "So how are we going to get to this supposed location of their next crime?"

"We've taken the liberty of arranging a ship for you all to use. It's captain is waiting near the royal docks waiting to take you to your destination. Good luck to you all."

The kids were led out of the halls by Eugene. After they were gone, King Beast turned to Quasimodo.

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing here?"

"In circumstances like this one, sometimes it's best for people to not know the whole story."

As the teens made their way to the docks, Evie shot Mal a dirty look.

"I think you may have overcommitted our potential to do good here. The son of Hades?! What were you thinking? There's no way we can handle this!"

Mal let out a forced chuckle. "Come on Evie. A demi-god with anger issues who hates his father? I think if we just talk to him, we might be able to convince him to turn a new leaf."

Carlos interjected. "You hesitated for a second."

Mal was eager to change the subject. "Hey where's this ship anyway?"

They looked forward at the water in front of them to see there wasn't a ship there.

Ben pointed a finger upward. "I think that's what you're looking for."

Sure enough floating in the sky was a regal looking ship. It lowered itself a bit and a gangplank emerged from the side of it to allow them access onto it. A young woman with long black hair and a smile appeared at the end of the gangplank to meet them.

Ben cleared his throat. "Guys, allow me to introduce our captain."

The young woman took a bow. "Joselyn Gibbs, at your service."

Jay let out a whistle. "What a nice…ship you got here."

"Got it from my own father. I call it the Sea Serpent."

Carlos stepped onto the gangplank, eager to start their mission.

"No no no not the left foot! Never the left foot! Horrible luck. Start with your right foot first."

Carlos meekly pulled his left foot back and stepped with his right foot.

"Much better."

The rest of them followed after him.

"Right then, is that everyone? Well let's not waste any time. Hang on to your bottoms and brace yourselves for takeoff!"

Without time to even comprehend what was thinking, the ship began floating in mid- air. Joselyn pulled a lever to accelerate the ship forward.

Jay stumbled over to stand next to her. "How the blazes are you getting the ship to do this?"

"Sea Turtles mate. The magic of sea turtles."

"Really?"

"No yah idiot. Pixie dust is what makes this ship fly. Now make yourself scarce. We have a lot of ground to cover in so little time."

And with that the ship pulled forward and began their journey.

So why did I make Joselyn the daughter of Gibbs? 1, because Dead Men Tell No Tales comes out in three weeks. 2, of all the characters in Pirates of the Caribbean, Gibbs is one of the few I could see as being a decent parent. And yes, Kat was originally going to be the daughter pf Barbossa. Why did I change it? Blame that one on my editor. That's all for now. Please review if you like this so far. Next chapter we see more of our villains at work.


	5. Mysterious Fathoms Below

With the captain at the helm, Kat sat down her ship in the middle of the sea. They were now in the world of the Caribbean, home to Pirates and fantastical beings. A world that, somewhere, held a treasure that Pluto wanted to get his hands on at any cost.

"Look at that horizon. It's beautiful at this time of day."

Pluto stood at the front of the ship, holding out the compass they had stolen, looking for some direction.

Carter approached him. "Well boss, what does your new friend have to tell us?"

Pluto closed the compass. "We're close by. Let's go below deck and prepare to dive. Kat, tell your crew to drop anchor."

The anchor was dropped and the rest of the crew followed him below deck to where a large object was being kept.

"This here is the diving bell. Carter, you and Mordred will use this to explore the deep sea. Use this compass to help you locate our treasure located beneath the surface." He tossed the compass to Mordred. "And if you should run out of breath, just come back to the diving bell for air and continue on your search. Any questions?"

Mordred raised his hand. "Yeah why aren't you joining us on this search?"

Pluto looked away in embarrassment and then quickly tried to regain some dignity. "Because you two are better at holding your breath than I am, okay?"

"That's not the real reason, is it?"

"No, not really."

"Fine, whatever."

Kat interjected. "When you find what it is that we're looking for, there's a microphone inside the bell. Use it to call us and we'll get more guys down there to help you."

Carter and Mordred nodded. They got into the bell and were lowered into the water to being their search.

Kat walked up to Pluto and began massaging his shoulders. "You're so tense. If you want I can help take some tension off you to help make you more relaxed."

Pluto turned her down. "No thank you, I need to be on full alert for when they get our treasure."

Kat put her hands on hip. "Well if you ask me you picked the absolute worst of all the items to go after. Here it is, somewhere in this ocean, and all we have to help us out is an old compass."

Pluto put his fingers together. "Trust me, there are objects on that list that are much harder to acquire then this treasure we're after."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Oh let me see. How about an Atlantean crystal? Do you know how hard it is to even get to Atlantis? Dr. Facilier's talisman, which was destroyed by Tiana. And then there's the crown of the Pumpkin King. Trust me the last thing we want is Jack Skellington after our hides."

Kat frowned. "I suppose that does limit our options, doesn't it? So that just leaves this treasure and that thing with the witches then?"

"Exactly."

Kat began to ask another question, but before she could get a word out she was interrupted by the sound of a ringing. It was coming from a microphone they had set up to communicate with the one in the diving bell.

Pluto went over and picked up one end. "Any news to report?"

Carter answered. "We followed the compass like you said. We believe that we've found it."

"Alright. Get in and prepare to be pulled up."

With help from the rest of the crew they pulled on the rope bringing the diving bell back to the surface.

Kat directed her finger at four of the crew. "All right, you lot get in there and help them pull up this supposed treasure. When you got it in the bell call us and we'll pull you up."

They nodded and got in the diving bell with Carter and Mordred. Then they were lowered back into the water while Pluto looked on.

"Now we simply wait."

Approximately 45 minutes and 12 seconds later Pluto and Kat were waiting in the Captain's quarters when they heard a ring. Kat went over to answer.

"Well love? Have you blokes got what we came for then?"

"We found the chest if that's what you're asking. Now pull us up."

Kat called for the help of Pluto and the crew and they pulled up the diving bell one last time. Pluto opened the door and out came the crew member accompanied by Carter and Mordred holding a chest.

"We found it just like you said. Took the whole damn lot of us to get it back in one piece."

They sat the chest down and set to work pulling of the lid. When it was off they found themselves looking at golden coins imbued with skull and crossbones. Pluto looked at them while hanging over the edge of the chest.

"This, my friends, is the cursed treasure of Cortez himself. The same one that tormented Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl for ten years. And now, it is the second piece of an even larger puzzle."

Pluto pointed at two members of the crew, Boris and Jasper. "You two, stay in this room and count all the coins. We need all 882 of them for the spell to work; any less and it's of no use to us."

They agreed and pulled out a handful of coins and began counting.

Kat let out a small sigh. "We might as well start killing time. Come on, let's all go to the galley and make some dinner."

The rest of the crew followed her. Pluto got out a bag of potatoes and began peeling. Carter got out a pot to help make a soup.

The sun had set by the time dinner was prepared. Soon they were joined by Boris who asked them to come back to the Captain's quarters. There stood Jasper with the chest.

"We followed your instructions sir. We counted them all 882 pieces present and accounted for."

Pluto frowned. "Are you absolutely certain? We can't afford a mistake on this."

Jasper spoke up. "Yes boss we made sure."

Pluto sighed. "Fine then. Now Kat if you please."

Kat handed him two knifes which he handed to Jasper and Boris.

"Are all the coins back in the chest now?"

"Yes boss."

"Good. Now grab one coin, cut your palms, and cover the coin with your blood."

Jasper and Boris shared a look of uncertainty between them.

Kat spoke up. "Trust me, I've read about the curse; it's not something you fellas want to be burdened with."

The two men nodded and followed the orders. With the coin covered in blood they dropped them in the chest. Mordred moved towards them with cloth to cover up their wounds.

"Follow us out the deck lads." Kat grinned and made her way of her quarters. The rest followed suit.

Jasper and Boris looked confused but did as they were told. When they were out on the deck, Pluto looked up to glance at the moon shining bright. He let out his wicked grin.

"Looks like there's no skeletons. Which means you two are good and cured of the curse."

Pluto took out the compass and waited for it to point in a certain direction. When he had the direction Pluto closed it.

"Our next goal is that way. Set a course for the land of Prydain."

Before anyone could move there was a loud rumbling sound. Pluto turned to look at the direction it came from and frowned at Carter, who merely shrugged.

Kat walked up to confront Pluto. "Alright now look love. We've been working hard all day. At least let us have a nice warm meal before we continue your evil plans."

Pluto rubbed his forehead with has palm. "We're on a fricking time constraint here…oh alright fine. Let's eat dinner first. THEN SET A COURSE FOR THE LAND OF PRYDAIN!"


	6. Come sail away with me

The night sky shined brightly with stars on this particular evening while the five friends sat beneath it on the deck of the Sea Serpent. Mal and Ben sat together in a warm embrace. Carlos and Jay were off in their own corner of the ship playing some card game that the others knew nothing about. Evie on the other hand was trying to get a decent signal for her magic mirror. When she had acquired it she placed a call to the Isle of the Lost. Within seconds she was answered by her mother, the Wicked Queen.

"Who's there? This is the middle of the night."

"Hello mother."

"Evie? What are you doing calling at this ungodly hour? This had better be important?"

"Mother I have some question I need to ask you. Are Jafar and Cruella there as well?"

The Evil Queen rolled her eyes, quite annoyed at being disturbed from her so called beauty sleep.

"Just a sec."

Evie's Mother left and when she came back she was accompanied by three other adults who didn't look as bothered by this disturbance as she was.

"Now what is the meaning of this daughter? You know that this is rather inconvenient right?"

"Mom I need to ask you all some questions. Do any of you know anything about Hades?"

The faces of the three parents suddenly turned shocked and full of worry. Cruella broke the silence.

"Why on earth do you want do you want to know about him? He is absolutely pure evil! If you had any sense about you then you'll stay away from him for the rest of your life!"

"So that's a yes then."

Jafar cleared his throat to speak.

"We've all met Hades before, so to speak. You see, back before any of you were born, as you know when the heroes of the old stories overcame us and lived happily ever after, most of us were, for lack of a better word, dead. And dead people had to go to an afterlife, you understand. So most of us found ourselves imprisoned in the Underworld. And it was there that Hades tormented us for what seemed an eternity. So much so that it seemed like mercy when King Beast made a deal with Hades to bring us back to life to place us on the Isle of the Lost."

The Evil Queen spoke directly to Evie. "What do you want to know about such a despicable person anyway? Please tell me you haven't got it in your head to go after him."

Evie let out a weak laugh. "Well, not exactly."

The Evil Queen seemed to deflate.

"You see the thing is, we've been charged to go after his son and bring him to justice."

The Evil Queen seemed to faint.

Cruella ignored her. "I didn't know Hades had a son; Jafar, did you know anything about this?"

"I don't think anyone did. Hades was always different from most of the villains, what with being a god and all that. If anyone could get away with hiding a secret child, no doubt it would be him."

"So you don't know anything about Pluto?"

Both Jafar and Cruella nodded their heads no.

"Right then well it was worth a try. Guess this is good bye. And please make sure my mother wakes up." With that Evie closed her magic mirror and let out a sigh. How she wished she was back with Doug right now. Things always seemed simpler when she was with him.

Gathering her thoughts, Evie walked back out on the deck to talk with her friends. There stood Joselyn piloting the ship through the night. Mal and Ben were having a talk near the stern, so she went over to join them. Mal noticed this and turned to address her.

"Any luck hearing from our parents?"

"Yes. I was able to talk to my mom, Jafar, and Cruella. All they said was that Hades was a cruel god and practically invincible. So if this Pluto is anything like him, well, to be honest Mal I don't like our odds."

"Hey come on. I don't like that attitude E. So he might be a powerful demigod and have a bit of a bad side. It's still our job to try to remediate him and his friends. We owe it to Auradon after they took a chance with us. And plus, you and I have magic on our sides. I bet they won't be expecting that."

Evie opened her mouth to argue but they were interrupted by Jay and Carlos arguing.

"Hey! No fair! That card you just used was banned from casual and tournament play!"

"It is not! They unbanned it since last August!"

"You made that up you cheater!"

Their argument soon turned into a brawl. Mal simply rubbed her forehead, snapped her fingers, and the two boys were pulled apart by an unseen force.

"Enough, both of you. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow and you two arguing amongst yourselves is not helping anyone. Why don't you both get some sleep so you don't disturb us?"

Jay and Carlos looked at each annoyingly then both walked below deck.

Evie let out a small laugh. "Some things never change."

Mal ignored that comment and went to speak to Joselyn.

"So how are we doing Captain?"

"If by we you mean the ship, then things are fine, thank you. We should arrive at Prydain tomorrow, hopefully we won't miss them."

"So how come we never saw you at Auradon before?"

"Because my dad isn't exactly what you would call a villain but he definitely is not a hero. So I spent most of my childhood with him at sea."

"So you spent most of your life on a boat. I take it that's where you got this this vessel."

"Nothing escape you."

"Did you learn and good songs during those years?"

Joselyn stared at the horizon. "There was one that my father used to sing when I was little. He said it helped me to sleep."

"Would you mind singing it to us?"

Joselyn simply let out a sigh. When she saw that Mal was serious she cleared her throat.

"Sail away with me, I put my heart in your hands, sail away with me now, now, now sail away with me."


	7. Why don't people understand my intention

Kat sat her ship down in the middle of a deserted swamp. The very air reeked of death and despair. Not the most exactly welcoming kind of scenario.

Mordred looked over the horizon. "Are you sure this is where the last object is located?"

Pluto took one last glance at the compass. Then he put it down and extinguished his cigarette. "Yep this is the location. Now let's get moving; the compass points in this direction."

Kat let the anchor drop and told her crew that they were going ashore. Kat, Mordred, Carter, and Pluto began making their way through the swamp, following where Pluto said the compass was pointing. Eventually they came across a dilapidated house that sat in the middle of the swamp.

"Well now what have we here lovelies?"

Mordred drew his sword. "Quite a terrible place for one to take up residence."

Pluto let out a laugh at that. "Doesn't quite compare to a castle, eh mate? Come on; the object we need is somewhere in this house."

The three of them walked into the house, Kat and Mordred having their swords out and at the ready. Carter however stayed outside with his rifle aimed into space.

"Carter, what exactly are you doing?"

"Call it a hunch. You guys go in; I'll keep a look out here." Pluto simply obliged him and led the rest inside the house.

Inside the house they began searching for…well whatever it was that obsessed Pluto so much.

"I don't see anything based on the vague description you gave me."

Kat was getting frustrated. "The problem with all these pots is they all look the bloody same. How will we know when we've found it?"

"Trust me, we'll know."

Suddenly the door closed by a mysterious force. The others turned around with their swords out; hoping to attack whatever it was that had suddenly arrived. Pluto has summoned a fireball in his hand. But there was nothing they could find. Then an eerie voice called out to them.

"Well well? What have we here sisters?"

"A dishonored prince who thinks himself a villain. Oh how cute."

"A little girl who fancies herself playing with her daddies toys."

"And a young man who enjoys watching the world burn. My what a colorful cast of characters we have here."

Pluto was not in the mood for any of this. "Why don't you stop wasting both of our times and show yourselves?"

"Very well." Suddenly there was a puff of smoke that enveloped the entire room. When the smoke cleared there stood three similar looking women. Pluto grinned at them.

"Nice to meet you ladies. We're here on official business. I believe you have something we so desire."

One of the ladies matcher his grin with an equally wicked one of her own. "Why of course young man. What can we sell you? We have tons of magical items for sale. Eyes of newts, dragon scales, even your own magic wands." She pulled out from her cloak an assortment of various items and displayed them for the three to see. "Was there something particular you wanted?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. What we're looking for is a cauldron."

"Why of course; we have various cauldrons for sale here that you should be able to purchase."

"Well that's good because the cauldron I wanted was kind of special. The cauldron I want is kind of, how I would put it, cursed."

The sisters stopped their peddling and looked at Pluto with dead serious expressions.

"We're not entirely sure you want that item dear boy. Now here, why don't you take a look at some of our other items? How about this? A ring that can grant immeasurable power to whoever wields it. "

Pluto was beginning to get annoyed.

"Look ladies you seem to be figures of respectable intelligence. I myself am a busy man. So I'm going to repeat myself one last time. I want the cursed cauldron."

"Do you know what forces you're dealing with boy? There's a reason we've been entrusted to guard that particular item."

"I understand what it is I deal with. The infamous black cauldron. The one they said could resurrect the dead. The obsession of the once feared Horned King. So yeah, I think I know its power."

"And you're sure you want that item? Many similarly minded men before you have met their ends because they underestimated the cauldron's potential."

"Look if it makes you feel any better I have no intention of using its power over the dead. The cauldron has another power that I intend to make full use out of."

"Do you perhaps mean that you intend to use the forbidden spell dead boy?"

"If you want to be so blunt then yes. I think it's time I have a long overdue talk with my father."

"Your father? Oh that explains a lot then. How amusing."

"Right so do you have the damn cauldron or not?"

The witches looked to the other and with a thrust of their arms teleported in an object seemingly from out of nowhere.

"Very well. Behold the Black Cauldron. Thought harmless on the outside, it possesses dark powers which even the most evils of men cannot fathom to imagine."

Pluto moved out to touch it. But one of the witches slapped his hand.

"Before we go any further boy, how exactly do you intend to pay for this?"

Kat stepped up and pulled out a satchel of gold.

"This wouldn't perhaps be of any interest to you would it?"

The three witches laughed.

"What use is money to us? We only deal in the supernatural side of things. I'm afraid that no good here."

Kat frowned and put the satchel back in her pocket. Then she pulled out two pistols and pulled back the hammer on each of them. Mordred unsheathed his sword. And Pluto summoned a fireball to his left hand which he pointed in the direction of the witches.

"You witches may be powerful, but you're by no means immortal. Now look, if you just let us have the cauldron we'll take it and be on our way. Refuse, we'll kill you the lot of you and take the cauldron regardless."

The witches looked at Pluto, hatred filling their eyes. But they knew he had a point.

"Very well just take it and go. But be warned that a very grim and horrifying end awaits those who use the cauldron."

"I'll take my chances. Now if you ladies don't mind we'll be going."

And without another word the witches vanished, leaving them inside the house with the cauldron.

Kat looked angrily at Pluto.

"You know there's about 12 different ways that could have turned ugly. What would you have done if they called your bluff?"

"That is not important right now. What matters is the next step in my plan. But first let's get this cauldron onto the ship. Next we have an appointment with a demon."


	8. Please allow me to introduce myself

The Sea Serpent had arrived in the land of Prydain. Joselyn saw a familiar looking ship and knew it had to be Kat's. She set the ship down not too far away from it so as not to arise any suspicion.

"Alright, this is where you lot get off. Let me know where you're ready to go back and I'll transport you to your fancy castle."

Ben thanked her for her services and called to arms the guards that had come with them. Within seconds they were up and ready for action. Jay and Carlos each drew their own swords and Mal and Evie mentally prepared themselves for whatever may happen. Then they got off the ship and began moving forward until they heard voices.

"Hey Carter. How about it then? Did your hunch amount to anything?"

"Nothing, yet I can't shake the funny feeling like we're being followed."

""It wouldn't surprise me. Now look, I'll teleport the cauldron back to the ship and then come back and get you all so we can leave this dump."

His friends agreed and in a puff of smoke Pluto was gone.

Suddenly Carter's ears perked up and he pointed his rifle in the direction where Ben and the others were hiding. "Alright now, slowly come out and reveal yourselves."

With their weapons drawn, Ben, Carlos, Jay, and the guards stepped out from a bush. Mordred unsheathed his broadsword and Kat got her hands on her pistol.

"Come on now, I know there's more out there. Get out here or I start killing these boys here one by one."

Sure enough Mal and Evie then came out of hiding. Thus the two parties were locked on to each other with the weapons out and ready to fight at the slightest provocation. But before anyone could charge or begin battle, a puff of smoke appeared out of nowhere.

"Alright so you guys ready to go or what?" Pluto looked at his friends and wondered what made them look so serious. Then he turned around and flashed that signature wicked grin.

"Well, I see we have visitors. And quite a glittering assemblage. I take it you lot aren't here for sight-seeing, now are you?"

Ben spoke up, trying his best to sound confident and unintimidated.

"By the authority granted to be as the rightful King of Auradon, I hereby place you and your friends here under arrest."

"Oh really? You and what army?"

Jay couldn't believe that this guy had so much gall.

"Look around you, loser. In case you haven't noticed we got you outnumbered."

Pluto simply let out a laugh and snapped his fingers. In a split second, there were sharp cries of pain. Carlos looked around and saw that a giant vortex of flames had engulfed the guards and was circling around them.

"Guys do something!"

Jay rushed forward without thinking and as soon as he got close to the vortex he was sent flying. Evie ran over to him and helped him back to his feet. Pluto eventually snapped his fingers and the vortex disappeared. The poor men that had the bad luck of being trapped inside of it now were burnt to a crisp, their bones being the only remaining thing left of them.

Evie felt so much anger and hatred well up within her. "How could you do something so...so...heartless?!"

Pluto put his hand to his face as if in mock contemplation. "Hmm, now how could I do something so heartless? Truly a question worthy of final jeopardy. Oh wait I know the answer. It's because of a simple little fact that **I AM EVIL!** And when you're evil you're free to do a lot of sinister things like that. Heck, just a few nights ago I killed some guards when we broke into that stupid school of yours."

Mal was frozen as if struck by fear. "You killed people when you broke in? But Ben's dad said you just stole the spindle and left. Why would he leave that information out?"

Pluto let out another laugh. "Looks like he considers you lot expendable. Can't say I'm surprised, do you really think they would trust the kids of villains? Oh yes, don't think I'm unaware of who you are. The beauty queen who learned that looks aren't everything. The thief who tried playing by the rules. The boy afraid of dogs. And you"…Pluto pointed right at Mal. "Daughter of Maleficent. I can certainly see why. I feel so much power radiating off you. It's a shame you're held back by those worthless morals they taught you at school."

Although she hated to admit, Mal could feel Pluto getting under her skin.

"Our morals don't make us weak, you jerk. They're what make us human, something you've clearly given up on."

Before Pluto could say another word Kat interrupted.

"Boss, as fun as all this is, can we just kill them now and get it over with?"

"Alright, kill them now and save them the pain of what comes later."

And without thinking, Mordred ran up and prepared to slash at Ben who barely had time to get his sword up in time to protect.

"Take advice from a fellow royal, your form is sloppy."

"You mean disgraced royal. My dad told me all about you Mordred. You're a disgrace to your people and your father."

Mordred growled at Ben and let go of his sword with one hand and used that free hand to deliver a punch on Ben's face which sent him staggering backwards.

"I've only embraced my inner darkness. Your dad had that darkness once. It can be yours if you would just give into your hate."

"Not going to happen."

Carter had drawn a machete and began to engage with Carlos who blocked with his own sword.

"You recognize this weapon? It's the same blade that Tarzan used to kill my father."

"Funny. We were taught a different story in class."

"Because history is always written by the winners. Something Pluto tends to do when his scheme is complete."

"Scheme? How much evil does your friend have planned?"

"Do you think I would be stupid enough to tell you any more than that?"

He then broke the stance they were in and pulled out a pistol which Jay saw just in time and simply tackled him and began unleashing punch after punch.

Kat was engaging Carlos who was clearly trying his best to not looked like he didn't want to run off and hide.

"Hey there pretty boy. It's a shame you have to die, you're actually pretty cute."

"Don't suppose you're going to feel like surrendering any time soon?"

Kat frowned. "You're not that cute." She then lit a bomb and threw it at him which he ran away from.

Mal and Evie had magic shields up to block the stream of flames Pluto was firing at them.

"Mal we can't be on the defensive forever!"

"Just hold on for a little longer!"

"Are you crazy!?"

But Mal and Evie did not have to wait long. As if on cue, Pluto teleported behind them. Evie turned around but she was backhanded and sent flying. Mal was a little faster and was able to get off a spell.

"Shock!"

Her hands made contact with Pluto's, sending volts of electricity through his insides. When the spell was done Pluto found himself flying backwards. Mal approached him cautiously and prepared another spell. But before she could his body had teleported away again. She looked right and saw him at a distance.

"That's a good trick. Now it's time for one of my own."

And with that he sent a fireball in her direction which she had to roll to dodge. When she got up Pluto was right near her.

"How are you standing? That was the same amount they put in electric chairs. Your body should be fried."

"I won't deny that you messed me up good. But you forget I'm a demigod. We can take a lot of pain before we die. Speaking of pain, if you would be so kind."

Within seconds he was in front of Mal and squeezing her face with his bare hands. Mal felt pain all throughout her body. It felt like a never ending cycle of torment. But then, suddenly it was done and Pluto threw her aside.

"What the hell did you do to me?"

"That was a nice little ability of mine. Call it the Dead man's hand. By absorbing one's life essence I can rejuvenate from any wounds. I sucked one year away from your life, and suddenly I feel like a new man. Thank you for that by the way."

Mal tried to charge at him but her body felt so weak she fell and felt her eyes close. Pluto simply teleported away and took his friends with him.

"It was fun playing with you lot but don't worry, we'll be seeing you lot again very soon!"

And with that Kat's ship took off and left the heroes behind.

With the fighting over, Ben rushed to his girlfriend.

"Mal? Mal!"

When he got to her he saw that she was knocked out. Ben quickly began applying CPR in an attempt to wake her up. He did not have to perform it long as she was soon up and began gasping for breath.

"Mal, are you alright?"

"No he took one year off my life and knocked me out. What happened to everyone else?"

Evie simply hung her head in shame. "We got our butts kicked."

Ben helped Mal to her feet and when Mal could stand again she suddenly found she was feeling extremely angry.

"Why the hell would your Dad and the Council send us after a guy like that when he had murdered people? How did he think we were capable of handling such a task?"

"Mal calm down. Now I don't know why my Dad withheld that from us but I'm sure he had a good reason. Maybe he thought that as King I need to handle threats to my kingdom."

"That doesn't account for crap! You're his son; you should not be the first one he sends in to capture someone so dangerous!" Mal tried to say more but Ben simply pulled her in for a hug which seemed to calm her down.

"You're angry, I get it. But we're not going to get any answers just standing here arguing. Let's head back to the ship, regroup at the school, and plan what to do next."

Mal wanted to vent out her frustrations more but she knew that there would be no point to it so she simply nodded and they began walking back to Joselyn.

Alright, another chapter done. Sorry I had to hurt the heroes so much and for making this chapter pretty violent. In exchange here's this little tidbit: my editor asked me what kind of voices my OCs would have so that you guys can imagine them in your head while you read the story. However, since I suck at describing voice types I've done the next best thing: I've assigned my characters real voice actors that, if you're familiar with their work, you can visualize hearing their voice in your head saying these words that I've written. Apologies if you aren't familiar any of these names but don't worry, you can look them up online. So without further ado I present to you:

The Descendants 3: Land of the Dead original character voice cast

Pluto-Crispin Freeman

Mordred-Liam O'Brien

Carter-Gideon Emery

Kat-Laura Bailey

Joselyn-Brina Palencia

Carroll Hawkins-Kari Wahlgren (Yes Carroll will be appearing, I wouldn't have brought her up if she wasn't.)

King Arthur-Steve Blum (Not technically my OC but I still that that would be awesome casting.)

Nora-(Don't really know any voice actors who are or can sound Scottish.)


	9. Death death devil devil evil evil songs

Bald Mountain. A nightmarish location where the scariest things human minds could dredge up happen at least once a year. And it was here that Kat and her crew landed after getting away from Mal and her friends. After dropping anchor, they began to unload the three items they had acquired on their journey.

"Put them together in a triangle," Pluto demanded. "Things must be perfect for the ritual to take place."

Once the three items were scattered about like Pluto described, he stretched out his hand and used his powers over fire to engulf them in a circle of flames. Then he pulled out a piece of parchment which contained the incantation and began reciting:

"Where forest stream went through the wood

And silent all the stems there stood

Of tall trees, moveless, hanging dark

With mottled shadows on their bark.

As faint as deepest sleeper's breath

An echo came as cold as death

Long are the paths, of shadow made

Where no foot's print is ever laid.

No moon is there, no voice, no sound

Of beating heart; a sigh profound.

Once in each age as each age dies

Alone is heard. Far, far it lies

The Land of Waiting where the Dead sit,

In their thought's shadow, by no moon lit.

Upon the plain, there rushed forth and high

Shadows at the end of night and mirrored in the sky.

Far far away beyond might of day

And there lay the land of the dead of mortal cold decay."

Suddenly the wind picked up and began viciously howling. The members of Pluto's party began to get nervous.

"Stand your ground; this is just part of the process." Pluto then pointed a finger up towards the mountain where they had set up in front of. Carter extended his rifle but to his astonishment, it looked like the mountain was, well, moving.

A few seconds later and it became quite clear that it wasn't the mountain itself moving, but rather something that was part of the mountain. What had seemed like mere rubble now changed its position and stretched itself outward to reveal a demon's wing. It was then followed by another wing on the left side of the mountain. Then what had appeared to be the peak of the mountain opened up to reveal bright yellow eyes which were connected to an evil looking head which raised up and gazed down at them.

" **WHO DARES TO WAKE ME FROM MY REPOSE?"**

Pluto stepped forward and gestured to the figure looming over them. "Good evening Chernabog. I'm sorry to disturb your nap time but I'm afraid I have to ask you a small favor."

" **YOU DID NOT ANSWER MY QUESTION. I SEE THAT YOU TOOK THE LIBERTY OF USING THE FORBIDDEN SPELL TO WAKE ME. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO THINK YOURSELF WORTHY OF ASKING ME FOR A FAVOR, MORTAL?"**

Pluto let out a small sigh and held out his hand. On command his palm was filled with fire. Chernabog actually looked surprised at this.

"As you can see I am no ordinary mortal. Do you think you can grant me that favor now?"

" **I SEE NOW. YOU'RE A DEMIGOD. AND I CAN GUESS WHO YOUR FATHER IS. SUDDENLY THIS MAKES THINGS INTERESTING."** Chernabog let out a laugh which thundered across the land.

"That's nice and all, but if you don't mind I would prefer it if you would open the portal you're guarding. You could say my Father and I are overdue for a long talk."

" **VERY WELL. BUT PROCEED WITH CAUTION. THE PLACE WHICH YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART."**

And with that Chernabog lifted his arms upward towards the sky and created a dark portal.

"Well guys, follow me." Pluto led them into the portal and vanished. Kat followed after him, then Mordred and Carter.

When they arrived they found themselves in an area devoid of joy and life, which seemed to almost suck the daylights out of anyone who entered there.

"Blimey, your dad sure knows how to pick a good location to live," said Carter sarcastically.

"He didn't pick it you idiot; it was assigned to him by Zeus," replied Mordred.

Kat knocked both of them with the palm of her hand.

"Stow it you lot; we've got company."

She pointed to right in front of them; there was a river of pitch black stretched out right in front of them. At the edge was a skeletal looking figure in a boat.

"If you wish passage across the River Styx, present the required fee." The figure then held out his bony hand, clearly expecting payment.

"You guys all got a coin to pay with?"

Each of his friends held out a silver coin. Pluto nodded his approval. He walked up to Charon, filled his left hand with a flame, and held it up for the ferryman to see.

"This is my entry fee. My friends have their own. We want you to take us to the middle of the river. We intend to speak with your boss."

Charon simply nodded and accepted their payment. When all four of them were in the boat hew began rowing. He took them to a middle that was seated at the middle of the river which housed a sinister skull looking building. Out of the building came a small pink demon.

"Charon how many times have I told you that his Excellency does not want to be disturbed? Who did you bring with you this time?"

The pink demon stopped his train of thought when he gazed upon Pluto glaring down at him.

"Hello Pain."

Pain immediately froze in place. He was soon joined by a small green demon.

"Pain, Hades wants the reports of all those who have died in the last few days. Why are you just standing around?" Then the demon saw what had cause Pain to stop in his track and followed suit.

"And Panic as well. Nice to see you guys."

Pain finally broke his silence.

"How did you get here? Lord Hades made it clear that he doesn't want any visitors, especially you!"

"Well that's too bad, because my friends and I came all the way here just to have a talk with my old man. So I suggest you two go and get him right now." Pluto then summoned a fireball in both of his hands and pointed them at Pain and Panic. "Or else the way he treats you will seem like mercy compared to what I do."

Pain and Panic looked to the other, confused on what to do. Then Panic put a hand to his mouth and called out.

"OH Master, there's a guest here I think you'll want to meet with!"

Suddenly the room began filling with black smoke. All the torches in the area went out. Then the smoke began to clear and in its place was a tall figure covered in blue flames.

" **HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TWO NITWITS NOT TO DISTURB ME THIS WEEK?!**

But suddenly the lord of the dead stopped some of his momentum when he notices who was standing across from him.

"Well, if it's the son I never wanted. How are you doing, junior?"

"Nice to see you to Dad. I thought we were overdue for a little family reunion."

"What has it been, like ten years? Maybe 15?"

"Spare me the sentiments Father; if you ever cared about me you wouldn't have left me all alone in the mortal world."

"You're right; I never did care about you. Sometimes I even wondered why I bothered having you in the first place. Hey look Zeus has that Jerkules! Boy what a pain in the touchas he was. Hey look! Poseidon has his own little half pint now! I thought I might try to get in on this band wagon. And let me tell you, what a mistake that was."

"You have no idea how right you are. You left me to fend for myself all my life. Not once were you ever there for me! Nor did you at least show up to see how that I was doing or give me any sort of support! You abandoned me!"

"Sheesh you sound almost as bad as Ares. That guy is never happy. Look kid, happy as I am too see you again, I'm pretty busy right now so either state your business here or be gone."

Pluto threw his coat off him and summoned flames to both of his hands. "Isn't it obvious father? I've come to collect my birthright."

"Come again?"

"You're the lord of the Underworld. I'm your son. I have as much a claim to that title as you do. So I'm here to take it from you, by combat if that's necessary."

Hades looked at his son with a hateful glare. But then his demeanor changed.

"Look if that's what you wanted all you had to do was say so."

Pluto seemed to deflate entirely. "Come again?"

"Kid did you even hear what happened in my story? Why do you think I tried to overthrow Zeus in the first place? I've hated this gig since day one. And now you're here from out of nowhere offering to take that off my shoulders? Maybe you're not so useless after all."

Pluto didn't know what to think of this. "Why are you so eager to this? What do you have to gain?"

"What do I have to gain? How about a reprieve from the most boring job in the universe? Look son I don't have all day and time is precious so if you're serious on this, let's make it official." Hades held out his hand to shake. "Do we have an accord?"

Pluto hesitated, contemplating his decision. Then he shook Hades' hand. "Deal Father."

Energy surrounded the both of them as the transfer of power commenced. When it was done Pluto was now basked in a glowing blue light.

"Hey congrats you're Lord of the Dead now huzzah. So now what are you going to do?"

"My first order of business? To make the surface world suffered as I have."

Pluto turned to address his friends.

"I thank you three for sticking by my side throughout this whole ordeal. But the biggest part of my plan is yet ahead of us. Can I count on you to stand by me one last time?"

Mordred nodded. "I swore a blood oath to serve you, no matter where that may lead. I'm with you."

Carter grinned. "The biggest brawl all the worlds have ever seen? The chance to kill whoever I want? Say no more, I'm in."

Kat went up and looked at Pluto flirtatiously. "When a pirate makes a pact, they stay true to that. We remain people of our words handsome. So safe to say I'll fight with you."

"Excellent." Pluto then summoned a horde of undead soldiers and other Underworld monsters.

"Alright you undead screwheads listen up. Hades is out and I'm in. As of this moment we're declaring war on mankind. We'll start with Auradon Prep, the vey symbol of happiness that I so despise. Once that falls, the world will tremble at our might!"

The hordes of warriors screamed out in support of their new master. Then from out of nowhere a jaunty theme appeared and Pluto did something he normally didn't do: he began to sing.

 _ **A Minotaur's my butler, a Cyclops my valet**_

 _ **A Centaur draws my chariot that takes me down the way**_

 _ **Through a river made of fire to a street that's paved with bones**_

 _ **I got a dozen zombie skeletons to walk me to my throne.**_

 _ **In the Land of the Dead**_

 _ **Heck boy, ain't it grand?**_

 _ **I'm the Overlord of the Underworld**_

 _ **Cause I wield Horror's Hand**_

 _ **In the Land of the Dead**_

 _ **I'm darkside royalty**_

 _ **I'm far renowned in the underground**_

 _ **And you can't take that from me!**_

 _ **Whoa! (whoa) Whoa! (whoa) Whoa! (whoa)**_

 _ **Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!**_

Suddenly a giant black three headed dog appeared in front of Pluto. Pluto simply flashed him his sinister evil grin and the dog was kneeling in front of him.

 _ **Cerberus my lap dog is loyal as can be**_

 _ **My bed is made of skulls; I'm in the lap of luxury**_

 _ **I've got a Dragon's Blood jacuzzi; the Gorgons think it's cool**_

Then from the river Styx rose a multi headed lizard type of creature arose bearing its teeth.

 _ **And a seven-headed Hydra livin' in my swimming' pool**_

 _ **In the Land of the Dead**_

 _ **Heck boy, ain't it grand?**_

 _ **I'm the Overlord of the Underworld**_

 _ **Cause I wield Horror's Hand**_

 _ **In the Land of the Dead**_

 _ **I'm darkside royalty**_

 _ **I'm far renowned in the underground**_

 _ **And you can't take that away from me**_

 _ **No you can't take that from me!"**_

And with that Pluto let out an evil laugh to herald his plans of destruction.

In a small corner of the Underworld Hades simply sat down and began reading a book while Pain and Panic were shaking with worry.

"Uh boss? Are you so sure that was a good idea? That kid's gone mad with power! Now he's going to destroy the world! And just think about how angry Zeus is going to be when he finds out about this."

Pain did not seem as worried as his companion. "You mean if Zeus ever finds out."

Panic considered the meaning of those words. "If. If is good."

Hades did not seem so concerned. "Patience boys. Let's just see how far my son's hatred takes him."

Alright, finally, the long awaited meeting with Hades! Believe it or not, the entire concept for this story started with this chapter. I hoped you had fun reading, more chapters to be added soon. I don't own anything, especially not Land of the Dead by Voltaire. (Great Song.) Oh and one more thing: that line about Poseidon's half pint? Yes, that is a shout out to Percy Jackson (Love that series.)


	10. We're on a misson from Gods

Joselyn sat her ship down in the docks of Auradon and the four friends began piling out.

"Right this is where we part ways. It was nice meeting you lot but I've got to be getting back to my home now. Any longer in this world and I risk breaking the Pirate Code."

Once they were off Joselyn took off and began flying back to the Caribbean.

Mal clenched her fists in anger and stormed into the front gates.

"Mal just hold up there let's not be hasty."

Mal was having none of that and continued making her way to the council room. When she arrived she slammed the doors open with all her anger.

"Alright King Beast you had better start explaining yourself right now."

But to her surprise she found that King Beast was talking with a strange looking man. He was entirely blue and seemed to wearing a helmet with white wings on the sides.

"Mal, Ben, this is Hermes. He says that he was sent here with an important message that affects all of Auradon. "

Ben looked confused at the god's presence.

"What kind of message did he have for us?"

Hermes cleared his throat.

"Well I guess I'll cut straight to the chase then. Unfortunately what I have to say isn't good. Long story short, you know Pluto was going to perform the forbidden spell?"

"What's the forbidden spell?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. A spell that allows one to be able to visit the Underworld. It's forbidden because mortals are not supposed to be there since, well, it's for dead people. Anyway, Pluto went to visit his Dad and usurped his position as Lord of the Dead. Now he has the entire Underworld army at his beck and call and they're marching here to destroy your Auradon."

Ben immediately tensed up; Carlos and Evie looked like they were about to faint. Without hesitation King Beast moved to exit.

"I'll start preparing our defenses immediately. Our army will be ready to engage this enemy by tomorrow."

When he was gone, Mal turned to address Hermes.

"So is that what you came to tell us? That Auradon is heading for War?"

"Not entirely, no. I'm not entirely sure you kids are aware of this, but when Hercules and Megara died and went to Mount Olympus, Zeus passed a doctrine that declared us Gods couldn't directly get involved of the affairs of you mortals."

Ben was even more confused at this statement.

"But if you can't get directly involved, then why are you even here?"

"Well let's just say I'm here to make the scales a little bit even. I don't think I have to explain to you children how difficult this battle is going to be. But, say you just happened to find some divine weapons and tools that might give you a better fighting chance that some messenger God had been carrying around and foolishly left behind."

"You have weapons for us? Can we see them now?"

"Of course. Just give me a second." Hermes went behind the council table and pulled out an average looking carpet bag.

"You'll have to excuse me. I borrowed this bag from some magic nanny in Britain. She wasn't happy at first but once I explained the situation she let me borrow it for some time. Now let's start with this one."

Hermes pulled out a green looking bow and a quiver that radiated golden light.

"This was donated by Artemis. She uses it for hunting and sport. It should be useful in the battle ahead."

Jay seized the bow and quiver. "I think we all know who this is going to."

Evie nodded. "Nora, no question."

Hermes then pulled out a sharp looking weapon that sizzled with electricity.

"This was donated by King Triton himself. It should be obvious who he want to use this."

"Melody," said the five friends in unison.

Next Hermes pulled out a blue conical hat that was decorated with white moons and stars. Mal gasped when she saw it.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"You betcha. This hat here belonged to Master Yen Sid himself. Unfortunately well…"

"Well what? What happened to him?"

"Two days ago unfortunately he had a fatal heart attack. He was very old you understand. Anyway in his will he specified that as his future apprentice, you were to inherit his hat to use in the upcoming battle. Think of it as an amplifier for your magic that can teach you spells you never thought were possible."

Mal reluctantly accepted the hat and seemed to hold it with sorrow.

"Now what was this for? Oh yes now I remember. Which of you is Carlos?"

Carlos meakly raised his hand.

"I have a letter from some girl named Carroll I believe it was."

Carlos grabbed the note from Hermes and proceeded to read it. Mal tried to read over his shoulder.

"Well? What does it say?"

"It says she's aware of the upcoming battle and is bringing warships with her to provide us additional troops and firepower."

"That's wonderful news! Your girlfriend is amazing."

"Yeah I know."

"And where is that important item? I know I had it here somewhere. Ah here it is." Hermes dug deep into the bag and pulled out a small rock like looking object.

"And just what is that exactly?" asked Carlos.

"This, my dear children, is the Olympus Stone. You're probably too young to know this, but whenever heroes or those with good hearts enter the Underworld, they find their strength drained out from them. Thus Hades finds himself with home field advantage in his domain. So Zeus had Hephaestus forge this in the fires of Olympus. It counteracts the effects of the Underworld and allows one to fight on even ground with Hades. Of course such an object like this is only used for very special emergencies. However, unknown to most of the Gods, Zeus also bestowed a rarely used power on the stone."

"And what would that power be?" asked Evie defensively.

"In layman's terms, if one were to prove they were worthy, then it could be used in the hands of a mortal to slay a god. Strictly last case scenario only, in case a god ever want rogue, you understand of course."

All five teenagers looked at him like they couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"You mean that one of us might have to, you know kill him?"

"Unfortunately, that seems to be the situation. Sorry, it's just the hand you were dealt. Pluto has too much power and he must be stopped."

Jay raised his hand.

"How do we decide who gets to do the deed?"

Mal didn't hesitate.

"I'll do it."

Ben objected, as to be expected.

"Mal! You can't do this! Let me do it; as King, it's my duty to protect Auradon from and threats that would destroy it."

"That's sweet of you to offer Ben, but if Pluto is as strong as Hermes says he is, then I'm afraid you won't last long against him. If I use this hat Master Yen Sid gave me, it might give me and edge and fight him on even ground."

"I don't want you to do this!"

"It's the only way to save Auradon. The only way to save my friends. And the only way to save the ones I love. Especially you Ben. I'm sorry but it has to be that way."

Mal stepped forward to receive the stone.

"So how do I prove myself worthy?"

"Just hold the stone in your hands and declare out loud, 'In the name of the Greek gods, I offer myself up for judgement to use this item.'

"Alright then."


	11. Is it bright where you are?

Mal held the Olympus stone in her hands and closed her eyes.

"In the name of the Greek gods, I offer myself up for judgement to use this item."

Then suddenly she felt a strange sensation overtake her body and she fell backwards, only saved from hitting the floor by Ben catching her. Her eyes closed and she was whisked away to an unknown place in her mind.

When Mal opened her mind she found herself starring at complete darkness. This only added to her confused state.

"Where am I?"

A voice called out to her from the abyss.

"Strictly nowhere."

"Who's there? Please come out. I offered to prove myself to the Gods and then I woke up and found myself in this weird place. Wow that's not a sentence I ever though I would say."

"I suppose it's only natural to introduce myself to you, curious stranger."

So she heard the sound of footsteps approaching her. And out from the shadows came… a small duck dressed in what looked like fisherman's clothes. When she saw the duck Mal couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"So you think I'm funny, do you?"

"I'm so sorry. It's just that I wasn't expecting to see, well something like this."

"Missy, when you've been around as long as I have been, you see all kinds of reactions to how one looks. Trust me when I say that a small laugh is among the least extreme."

Mal composed herself and stopper her laughter.

"So who are you exactly? And just where am I and how do I prove I'm worthy?"

"Pardon? Oh that's right introductions. Well I guess that's only fair. Well then let me start by saying, Howdy. I'm J.J. Fate, the fall guy. My middle name is Jonah, and Jinx is in there somewhere too."

Then the duck extended his arms in a matter that looked like he was trying to scare her.

"Who do fits me like a glove. But Fate's the name to you."

"It's nice to meet you Mr. Fate. My name is Mal."

"Yes I know all about you missy."

"How do you know about me?"

"Well, long story short since the dawn of time my task has been to watch over the entirety of life and what happens. Well as you can imagine that can get quite boring sometimes. Like that one time where that John Smith guy met that Indian princess. Anyway, at one point the Greek Gods assigned a separate task to me, sort of like a side job if you will. As a watcher of fate, Zeus himself thought that I was the best one suited to determine who would be worthy of using this so-called Olympus Stone. And that's what brings us here today. So you think you're worthy to use this powerful weapon, eh missy?"

"I guess. I mean I'm not really sure, this is still kind of a new situation to me. So how do I prove myself exactly?"

"Well let's start by taking a trip down memory lane."

Suddenly Mal saw what looked like shelves filled with items she could not identify fly past her. Fate stopped on one shelf in particular and pulled something from it.

"I suppose this is a good as any place to start."

Then Mal forcibly seated in a chair that had appeared from out of nowhere and what looked like a projector came down from above and started playing. In seconds, she found herself staring at what looked like a baby being held by…her mother?

"Is that…me?"

"Yes. And what a humble beginning it was."

The video played out with Maleficent staring at the baby evilly.

"My, what a cute baby you are. Don't worry, we can easily fix this. And under my tutelage, you, my dear daughter, shall become the next Mistress of All Evil!"

"And that's when things went downhill."

Then the scene transferred to the day Mal and her friends first arrived at Auradon with them finishing their dance routing and being chastised by Maleficent for stealing candy.

"Yep, back then all you cared about was making Mommy dearest happy."

Then the scene transferred again and it was starting to give Mal a headache. She found herself staring at her and Ben sitting on the ground talking. Mal recognized this: it was the first date they ever had.

"You know, your mother is mistress of evil. And I've got the poster parents for goodness. But we're not automatically like them. We get to choose we want to be. And right now, I can look into your eyes, and I can tell you're not evil."

Mal had fond memories of that event, which Fate noticed was spelled out all over her face.

"Was that the first time anyone ever made you feel like your life was your choice?"

"Yes, it was."

"I have to admit, you and your boyfriend there do look like you were made for each other."

Then the scene switched again and Mal gasped when she saw it: the moment where she was concocting the love potion that she would later use on Ben.

"But the method you used to get his attention? Not exactly the most noble."

Then the scene shifted once more and she recognized it: it was Ben's coronation where Mal was holding the Fairy Godmother's wand.

"You really want to do this?"

"We have no choice Ben! Our parents-"

"Your parents made their choice! Now you make yours."

"I think I want to be good."

"You are good."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?"

"Because…because I'm listening to my heart.

"I want to listen to my heart to. My heart is telling me that we are not our parents. I mean stealing things doesn't make you happy. Tourney and victory pizza with the team makes you happy. And you, scratching Dude's belly makes you happy, who would have though? And Evie, you do not have to play dumb to get a guy; you are so smart. And I don't want to take over the world with evil. It doesn't make me happy. I want to go to school. And be with Ben. Because being with Ben makes me really happy. Us being friends makes me very happy. We're not destroying thing, I choose good you guys."

Mal watched the scene play out with her friends tapping their fists together and declaring they would choose good as well. She felt a small tear form in the corner of her eye.

"And from that moment on your life would never be the same again. And if you ask me it was for the better."

Then the projector went away and the chair Mal was sitting in disappeared, leaving her to fall to the ground.

"Why did you make me relive all those moments of my life?"

"I wanted a better assessment of your life and determine what kind of person you are deep down. It helps me determine if you're worthy of the Olympus Stone."

"Is that it? Well what do you think of me exactly?"

"You want my honest opinion?"

"Yes, of course."

"In my belief, you are a very flawed and somewhat untrustworthy young woman."

"Hey!"

"But, your heart is in the right place and you are an entirely different person than you were before you came to Auradon. You meet all the spiritual requirements to use this weapon."

Mal felt a sense of relief come over her at his words.

"So does this mean I can use the stone?"

"Before you do I have one question I need to ask: why?"

"I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"I mean why do you want to use the stone?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want to use it against Pluto and his army."

"No, that's why you need to use the stone. But why do you want to use it?"

"Because if I don't Pluto will be unopposed and will probably destroy the world."

"That's not a bad reason. Why else?"

"Because Pluto is insane!"

"That one wasn't as good. Try again: why do you want to use the stone?"

Mal screamed in frustration. What kind of answer was he looking for? She thought to herself long and hard on how to respond to his question. Then she smiled when she came up with one.

"To protect my friends. Because if I don't Pluto will probably kill them and make them suffer in the Underworld for all eternity. And I would rather die than let that happen."

"That was the best answer you had yet. Remember this lesson my dear; no matter where you are or how good you might think you are, never forget your friends. That's the big difference between you and Pluto; he claims that his companions and he are the closest of friends, but in the end he wouldn't hesitate sacrificing one or all of them to advance his goals. I'd say you're more than worthy to use the stone."

Fate then extended his hand towards Mal and put his hand, er wing, on her forehead. Mal once again felt a strange energy course through her. It was unlike anything she had felt before.

"What just happened?"

"You'll know when you wake up. But before you go promise me one thing."

"What would that be?"

"If, for some reason you should fail to defeat Pluto, just don't blame me. Everyone always blames me for their rotten luck in life and I for one am sick of it."

"Gee, thanks."

Then Mal was struck by the same energy she felt when she called out to the Gods. When it was over she opened her eyes to find herself starring at Ben and Evie. Evie spoke up.

"Mal, what happened? You closed your eyes and fell back, we were all worried."

Let's just say I had a meeting with Fate."

"Did it work? Did you prove yourself worthy?"

Mal looked at the Olympus stone in her palm, which was now radiating with a golden light.

"I think it's safe to think I did."

"Well what do we do now?"

Ben helped Mal to her feet.

"We regroup with our friends, hand out the weapons Hermes gave us, and prepare for ourselves."

Mal looked into Ben eyes, both filled with concern for whatever the future brought their way.

"For unless I'm mistaken, the worst is yet to come."

No, JJ Fate is not an original character. Look up the Donald Duck 1956 and 1959 cartoons _**How to have accident at home**_ and _**How to have an accident at work.**_


	12. How Arthur got his sword back

In his own chambers King Arthur stood preparing for what could be his final battle, dreading the eventual encounter with his son which was at this moment all but inevitable. A servant came up to him and helped him put on his armor.

"Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it come to this?"

King Arthur looked at himself in the mirror, decked out in his full armor. The years had been quite kind to him. But there was still something. His servant cleared his throat.

"Your fingers would remember their old strength better... if they grasped your sword."

Arthur nodded in agreement. He left his chambers and headed to a separate room in the castle filled to the brim with weapons. But there was only one weapon that Arthur had need of, his old sword Excalibur. He entered the chamber and found himself staring at…..

A short white figure holding a cane and wearing a monocle.

"Excalibur we need to talk…." But the figure interrupted him by pointing his cane right at Arthur's face.

"Fool! I know why you are here now. There is a great battle on the horizon and you seek my aid. Well if you want my help you're going to have to go through all my one thousand provisions just like last time."

Arthur rubbed his forehead with his palm. "I really don't think this is the proper time for this Excalibur."

"Is the battle going on right now? Then I think we have just enough time thank you very much. Now let's see, my legend dates back to the 12th century."

Arthur let out a small sigh. "I know. I was there." In response Excalibur just hit him on the head with his cane.

"Fool! Now do you want to hear my legend or not?"

"I don't need to hear your legend. I was there when it happened."

"My mornings begin with a cup of coffee at the café."

"That literally has nothing to do with what is going on now."

"Fool! Never interrupt a holy weapon when he is talking. My afternoons begin with a cup of hot tea with two lumps of sugar."

"Excalibur I really think that you're just stalling for time at this point."

"Fool! Do you know what this hat is?"

"We've been through this before. You're wearing a top hat."

"Fool! I think it's time for provision 452: the five hour story telling."

"Excalibur, we don't have time for five hours of stories. A great battle looms on the horizon."

"Fool! Then if we don't have time for stories, surely we have time for a song."

King Arthur yelled in frustration.

"HOW DID I EVER PUT UP WITH YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE?!"

Excalibur ignored him and began singing.

"Excalibur!"

"Excalibur!"

"From the United Kingdom!"

"I'm looking for him!"

"I'm going to California!"

"Excalibur!"

"Excalibur!"

Then the supposed holy sword began dancing to his own song which further enraged the once proud King.

It was at this point that Jigsaw9856 entered his house carrying food.

"Hey buddy I'm home with the take out. You got the Chipotle right? I got the Panda Express. So what do you feel like for the flick tonight, Flash Gordon or Highlander?"

Jigsaw9856 put the food on the table and went to look for his friend. In the next room he found his best friend/editor Venom4302 sitting at Jigsaw9856's computer with the screen on.

"What the hell are you doing on my computer?"

Venom4302 looked away with a worried look.

"Oh uh nothing,"

"This doesn't look like nothing. Let me see this crap!"

"No don't!"

But before Venom4302 could react Jigsaw9856 had snatched the computer away from him and was looking over what Venom4302 had written.

"What the hell is this? My story is already complicated and hard to follow as it is! It doesn't need light hearted humor like this!"

"Oh come this is funny stuff I've written here. Any how is it any different from what you wrote last Friday?"

"That was me not being serious it was meant to be crap."

"Oh really? Well why don't we let your readers decide that for themselves?"

"DON'T YOU DARE-!"

"Too late!" And then Venom4302 pulled up another word document.

Mal walked into the empty stadium. Across stood Pluto, the man who had beaten her friends and taken their most prized and rare cards for his own use.

"Well Mal, after two weeks of agonizing duels, here you and I stand at the Battle City Finals. I hope you prepared your pitiful deck."

"My deck isn't pitiful. It's powered by the spirits of my friends and loved ones. That's a force that even one so evil as you can't hope to overcome."

"We shall see about that! Let's Duel!"

Mal drew seven cards and looked at them to figure out a strategy. _Hmm, not a bad hand. Now what cards should I play?_ When she knew what to do she looked at Pluto with a determined look on his face.

"I summon Black Widow to the field in attack mode! (Black Widow: Att 1900/Def 1700.) And with her special ability I can summon another level 4 warrior monster to the field in attack mode. Come forth, Jedi trainee Rey! (Jedi trainee Rey: Att 1800/Def 1500.) Now I place two cards face down and end my turn."

Pluto then looked at his cards and formulated his own strategy.

"I summon Shere Khan the tiger in attack mode! (Shere Khan the tiger: Att 1700/Def 1600.) And next I'll activate Polymerization to fuse Shere Khan with Scar, the lion, to create the mighty beast Liger! (Liger: Att 2200/Def 200.) Now I'll use the magic card metalmorph to turn my Liger into Liger Zero! (Liger Zero: Att 2800/ Def 2600.) Liger Zero! Attack the Black Widow! Strike Laser Claw-"

"Alright close this crap! I thought we agreed that this stuff would remain on my computer for no one else to see!"

"Technically this is your mom's computer. Also metalmorph is a trap card, not a magic card. And if you think that was funny then wait till you see my One Piece version with Jay as Zoro and-"

"No, none of that! You are missing the point entirely!"

"You know you always get angry over the smallest stuff. You were much happier when you when in college. Ever since you graduated, you've become a real sourpuss."

"You know what I remember most about college? You weighed a lot less back then."

"You know what I remembered about college? You still had a girlfriend back then."

"THAT"S IT!" Jigsaw9856 then started attacking his friend by putting his hands around Venom4302's throat. Venom4302 responded by hitting him in the head with a WIIU controller. Eventually their fight knocked over the computer and the screen faded to black.

(This Fanfic is currently experiencing technical difficulties. We will return when the author and his editor stop trying to kill each other and both grow the hell up.)

Just something to tide you guys over while I write the final chapters. Also my way of saying thanks for reading this story. And no, I was not on drugs when I wrote this.


	13. Waiting for the end

The next day, Mal stood over in front of her friends and fellow classmates, all decked out in armor and equipped with weapons to defend themselves from Pluto's Underworlds forces. She didn't have to look at them to know that fear was spelled across all their faces.

Ben came up to her and held her hand. "Scout reports say they're almost here."

Mal frowned. "And when they arrive, they find we won't be going down without a fight. Have there been any words from Carroll?"

"None since Carlos received her note."

Mal silently swore, though in her heart she knew that Carroll would not abandon them to their fates.

"I know she'll be here. Until then we'll just have to stay alive."

Ben looked at her, a serious expression on his face that he normally saved for only the grimmest of circumstances. "Look Mal, we'll hold off his army for as long as we can. Your priority should be taking down Pluto once and for all."

"I know. It'll be just me and him. If I can take him down, his power over his army should falter and follow him back to the Underworld."

Ben frowned. "Mal, you said if that time. I don't like that word, not in this circumstance. I know it's not going to be easy but you'll beat him. We'll get through this together."

Mal simply sighed. "Ben, I know we haven't had a chance to talk about this because everything has been kind of hectic, but we need to face the facts that not all of us will survive this. There's a chance that he might beat me-"

Mal didn't get to finish that sentence as Ben took her in his arms and held her like he had never held her before. "Don't say that Mal. I know we have it within us to survive this evil. Please, you have to be strong right now."

Mal looked into his eyes, which were filled with worry and love simultaneously. Then she nodded her head. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Mal then turned to address her friends.

"Listen up! I know there isn't one of us here who wished they weren't here right now. In fact, I see in your hearts and on your faces, the same fear that would take the life from me. Make no mistake; this will be the darkest day in Auradon's history. But listen to what I say now! A day may come, when the courage of mankind fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds but this is not that day! A day of darkness and shattered spirits, when the force of good come crashing down, but that day is not today! We shape our own future today this day, and our future is one of love and friendship! And if we stand together, than we can see that future become reality! Now who stands with me?"

The crowd behind her raised their hands into the air to show their allegiance. Some even clanged their weapons on their shields.

"Thank you. I know this battle will be difficult. But if we stand together in unity, then we can overcome this evil as one!"

Ben beamed at his girlfriend. "You have such a way with words."

Mal blushed. "Thanks."

Ben's hand caressed her face. "I love you." Then he pulled her to him and they shared a quick tender kiss.

Mal broke up the kiss. "I love you too. Now let's get through this so we can say that for the rest of our lives."

Ben nodded in agreement and was about to add something when a noise from opposite where they stood came to his attention. He looked at a hill and saw what looked like a Minotaur blowing a horn as various monsters and undead soldiers slowly appeared next to him. Within time they were joined by Kat, Carter, Mordred, and their leader Pluto.

"What are they doing? Why did they just stop?"

"I don't know."

On the other end of the field Pluto was standing next to his troops, fully ready for battle. His minions had started making loud noises to try and intimidate the Auradon army. He walked up to where a troll had a catapult and a giant boulder ready to fire.

"Orders, sir? Shall we fire it at the army and thin their numbers?"

"No. Let's send a message instead." Pluto walked up to the boulder and, using his powers, set it on fire.

"Now launch it!"

Without wasting a second, his forces fired the catapult.

"Mal look out!"

But to their surprise the boulder went right over their faces and instead went sailing until it landed on Auradon Academy itself, taking out a good chunk of it and reducing it to rubble.

Pluto addressed the other army. "Oh, I'm sorry. I seemed to have blown a hole into your precious school. But you know what? I wouldn't worry your pretty little heads too much about this. Because as you can see, this is our house now. Now would you be interested in surrendering and sparing us a lot of trouble?"

A red haired girl stepped forward, her bow out and with an arrow nicked.

"I have a proposition for you, ya blooming arse. Would you consider...JUST SODDING OFF?!" And with that Nora fired her arrow until it hit the Minotaur with the horn in the eye. The beast gave off a small rattle and then fell forward, dead.

Pluto frowned. Then he turned to address his army. "Slay them all."

And with that the forces of the Underworld ran forward to engage both armies.

Ben stood overlooking the carnage. "Sot it begins; the great battle of our time."


	14. Through the Fire and the Flames

Lonnie, daughter of Mulan, stood in the middle of the battlefield with enemies beginning to surround her. Then unexpectedly, she took out her mother's sword and knelt in a praying pose.

"Great ancestors, hear my plea. If I am worthy, then grant me the strength to vanquish this evil. I honor all who trust me; my cause is worthy. Let my sword be your instrument of justice!"

Suddenly thunderclouds appeared in the sky. From it came a blinding ray of light than engulfed Lonnie. When the clouds cleared she was standing with her sword unsheathed and in a battle pose.

"Soldiers of the Underworld! I know that you only do this on your master's bidding and not your own. So I offer you this choice: leave now and live. Or stay and face your destiny."

One of the undead soldiers began laughing at her.

"Our destiny is your death, little girl!"

"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you."

And with that Lonnie began cleaving her way through waves of and undead soldiers foolish enough to challenge her.

From across the battlefield, Pluto could see first-hand the work his forces were doing. Most of his army was sent dealing with the Auradon soldiers while the other half was engaging the foolish children who had decided to risk their lives in this battle. To his surprise and somewhat delight, the children were actually doing alright for themselves.

 _Well then,_ he thought to himself _, time to introduce a game changer._

He looked at one of his minions and snapped his fingers. "You, unleash the Hydra."

The minion grunted in acceptance and blew a horn. Within seconds, a thunderous stomp was heard across the field of battle. Lonnie looked up and to her horror saw a seven headed purple monster making its way toward them, a look of hunger in its eyes. And indeed, when it was within distance of some soldiers, it wasted no time and seized up a soldier using its reptilian tongue and ripped the poor unfortunate soul to shreds with its other heads. Nora tried firing an arrow at his hide, and even though the hit their marks, they did nothing more other than annoying the beast. This would truly be a difficult foe to take down.

Then Lonnie had an idea. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny red figure that yawned and stretched out.

"Man Lonnie that was a nice nap. So tell me, how long until this final battle or whatever starts?"

"Mushu, we're already engaged in battle!"

"What? Why didn't you wake me up sooner! I need to get to work protecting you girl! Now who exactly is the first person I need to take care of?"

"I'm to hear that from you Mushu. You can start by taking care of that fellow."

She turned Mushu in her hand so that he was looking at the Hydra.

"Yeah, um, that's not exactly what I was expecting."

"Don't worry Mushu I have an idea."

Lonnie put her free hand to her mouth and called out to Evie who was not too far away.

"Evie! Do you know a growth spell?"

"Yes, why?"

"I need you to cast one where my left hand is!"

"Lonnie what are you doing?"

"Just trust me Mushu."

Evie turned to face Lonnie and cast the spell.

" _ **ENLARGE**_ _ **!"**_

The magic flew out and struck the hand that held Mushu. He felt a strange and powerful sensation overtake him. Then within seconds he felt his body transforming and him growing in strength. When it stopped Mushu found himself equal to the Hydra in size.

"Ah-ha not this is more like it! I have never felt this good!"

"Mushu take out the Hydra!"

Mushu nodded in agreement and rubbed his hands together. He turned to face the Hydra and stomped his feet to get its attention.

"Hey ugly lizard! I don't know if you know this but I am the guardian of the Li family. My job is to protect them from any threats that mean them harm. And guess what big boy? That includes you! So you just became my enemy."

The Hydra stared at Mushu in confusion for a few seconds then let loose a challenging roar. Mushu responded by charging at the creature with his claws out and ready to intercept him. The Hydra's multiple heads tried biting at him to inflict damage. Mushu responded by grabbing two heads and blowing fire to try and get him to back off. It worked, but also had the side effect of making him angry. Mushu tried to distract him by head butting one of the heads. The Hydra's heads recoiled back in pain.

"Ah so if one heads feels pain then the rest of fells it as well! Good to know."

Mushu charged at him with his claws. One of the hydra's heads lunged at him which he dodged effortlessly. Using the opportunity he slashed at one of throats so hard that it recoiled in pain again. Mushu then slashed at him with his other claws so that the head fully came off.

"Take that scaly!"

But Mushu's celebration did not last long. Within seconds, two heads had taken its place. And they looked angry.

"Oh that's right, I forgot about the whole growing thing. Alright then, time to switch up my game plan."

Once again the Hydra lunged at Mushu who continued dodging heads one after one. Suddenly the hydra leaned all of hits heads back and shot them forward in an effort to bite Mushu. Mushu rolled to avoid the attack and used the opportunity to jump behind the beast. Using his claws he sliced at another of the necks so that it came off. Within seconds though, Mushu put his head over the spot where the head had been sliced off.

"Hope you like it extra crispy."

Using all his power, Mushu shot out a long stream of fire into the gaping hole on the Hydra, whose eyes opened wide in fear at what was going on. Suddenly fire began pouring out each one of the Hydra's many heads. Within seconds the entirety of his insides was on fire. And then his eyes closed as the fire stopped. The Hydra, one of the greatest figures in Pluto's army, was dead. Its body turned into smoke and drifted back down to the Underworld.

Pluto was absolutely furious.

"WHAT? How the blazes did this happen?"

Lonnie had seen the entire fight from where she had been standing and grinned at Mushu's victory.

"Way to go Mushu!"

But suddenly she felt something hit her stomach and send her backwards. It was a centaur. Now that Lonnie was on her back, the creature held her in place by putting his hand on her shoulder and putting a sword to her throat.

"Go ahead girlie, call for help. No one's coming to save you."

He drew his sword back and prepared to end her life. Lonnie closed her eyes in anticipation of her death.

But it never came.

When Lonnie opened her eyes, the place where the centaur had been standing in front of her was clear. In its place there appeared to be a smoke trail.

In the sky above the battlefield, there appeared an armada of airships. At the front of them all was a ship emblazed with the symbol of Auradon. Standing on the edge of the ship was a young woman with brown hair dressed in a captain's uniform. And at the helm was none other than Joselyn herself.

Joselyn looked out over the battlefield.

"Looks like King Benjamin stands alone."

Carroll looked behind her and gave her a smile.

"No. Not alone."

Then she put her hands to her mouth and called out.

"Hey Carlos!"

Carlos looked up from the enemy he had dispatched to look at his girlfriend.

"When I said we should spend more time together this isn't quite what I meant!"

Carlos smiled.

"I'll take any chance to hang out with you again, baby!"

"After this you owe me a real date!"

When she was finished Carroll grabbed a rope and looked back to her troops.

"Come on lads; dying shall be the day worth living for!"

Her soldiers let out a cheer of support. Carroll pulled out her sword and used the rope to swing down to the battlefield.

Mordred saw the events unfold and went to report them to Pluto.

"Looks like the cavalry has arrived."

"Damn them! Well, I should have known this wasn't going to be that easy. No matter, they shall all be dead by the end of the day."

Carter and Kat appeared next to them while Mordred lent Pluto his spyglass. Pluto used it to look over the battlefield.

"I think I see our good old friend King Arthur. Morty, why don't you go have a family reunion with dear old Dad?"

Mordred unsheathed his broadsword.

"Gladly."

And with that Mordred began making his way towards his father.

"And why don't you two go down there and have yourselves some fun?"

Kat finished polishing her pistols and pulled out her cutlass.

"I'd thought you never ask."

With a menacing grin, she charged out towards the battlefield ready to kill anyone who crossed her path. Carter, meanwhile, stayed behind taking aim with his new gun. Pluto looked at him in confusion.

"When did you get a sniper rifle?"

"I've always had this. I thought I'd try killing from a distance for now. Now let's see if I can find a lucky target."

Carter looked over the battlefield through the scope to pick out a target. His eyes settled on a single person.

"Hello, princess."

Pluto shook his head and looked back into the spyglass. His gaze settled on Mal.

"Kill whoever you want. But this one is mine."


	15. Don't take your guns to town

Audrey had never been so afraid. True, her mother had made her take some basic combat lessons. _All to protect yourself,_ she had told her daughter. But this was nothing like that. Here she was on a field of battle with enemies who would not hesitate to kill her. And the very idea sent shivers down her spine. Suddenly she was interrupted from thinking to herself when she felt an unknown force pull her backwards by her hair. Within seconds, she was on her back with an ugly creature looking right at her, malice in his eyes. The creature pulled a knife out and held it to her throat. Audrey tried to cry out for help.

"You're a pretty girl. Let's see how you look covered in blood!"

Then out from nowhere a blinding force appeared and tackled the enemy to the ground, letting go of Audrey and giving her room to breathe. It was Chad, Audrey's boyfriend who was now driving his sword into the creature's head very angrily.

"Don't ever threaten my girlfriend!" Chad yelled at the dead body.

Audrey felt relief come over her and went over to Chad. When he saw she was unharmed, he got up and spit at the enemy he had just slain.

"Audrey, are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine, thanks to you."

"Look I know this is dangerous and that you're not really suited for this kind of thing. Believe me, neither am I. But we need to stand together. If we don't than we allow our world to fall into darkness. Can you do that for me Audrey?"

Audrey noticed that, for once in his life, Chad was being extremely serious, which just showed the intensity of the situation. She looked into those eyes of his and saw the fiery resolve that he possessed.

"You're right Chad. I think I can do that."

Audrey briefly contemplated taking Chad in her arms. Considering the situation, she did not know if she would get another chance. But she decided against it. However, all of a sudden there was a loud noise. Chad's eyes grew wide and he fell forward towards Audrey, who barely had time to catch him.

"Chad? Chad!" Audrey cried out in horror. When she got a chance, she looked to Chad's backside for any wounds. Sure enough, there was a hole in his back with blood coming out of it.

Audrey laid Chad on the ground and began crying.

"No no no Chad please stay with me! Chad you can't leave me alone!"

But Audrey's words did not bring Chad back from his daze. For in her heart, she knew he was dead.

Across the battlefield, Carter was looking down the scope of his gun at the scene he had just caused.

"Damn, that guy just had to get in my way. Oh well, you're next princess."

And thus Carter let his gun cool off and prepared to fire again. Within seconds he had Audrey in his crosshairs.

"Goodbye, Princess."

Carter put his hand on the trigger, as if to transfer all his strength into this one shot. Suddenly an unknown voice called out to him.

"Hey you blind eyed jerk!"

Carter was distracted by this and turned his gaze away from his target. What he saw baffled him. A shot of golden light whizzed past him and somehow managed to slice his rifle in half, rendering it useless. Upon getting a better look at the thing he saw that it was an arrow.

"A bit primitive for my tastes. Your medieval tools are nothing compared to the modern age."

Carter looked to try and identify who had fired that arrow at him. Sure enough, within seconds he saw Nora not too far away with her bow drawn, complete rage in her eyes directed towards him.

"Alright missy. So you want to play huh?"

Nora responded by knocking another arrow and letting it fly, which Carter barely dodged. He let out a small laugh at this to taunt her.

"Well let's see how your arrows stack up to this."

Carter pulled out a pistol and fired. Nora was able to dodge with no effort on her part. She then fired another arrow which was able to nick Carter in his upper arm. Carter winced in pain and dropped his pistol. There was a gash where the arrow had hit with blood coming out.

"You're going to pay for that."

Carter reached behind him and pulled out a shotgun. Nora rolled her eyes.

"How many blooming guns do you have strapped to your bum?"

Carter said nothing and fired. Nora dodged. Carter began running after her. Nora noticed this and fired another arrow which missed him. Carter then fired another shot which almost hit her. Nora let loose another arrow but to no avail. Carter was gaining on her. Nora tried to reach for an arrow but within seconds Carter had caught up to her. He tackled her to the ground. Nora let out an oomph sound of pain. Carter pinned down her arm by putting his leg on top of it. He then stood over top of her and pointed his gun point blank at her face.

"Say good night lassie."

But before Carter could pull the trigger, a tidal wave appeared out of nowhere and sent him crashing into a nearby rock. When he recovered, Carter looked to determine where in the blazes that could have come from. He found himself starring at a young girl with black hair wielding a trident.

"Sorry about that," Melody said in a mocking manner.

"Hope that was worth it for you," Carter called out. He then got his shotgun up again and prepared to fire. He finger on the trigger, he let loose.

And nothing happened. Carter pulled the trigger again and nothing happened again. The water had made the gun jam. Melody smirked at him.

"Having trouble firing?"

Carter threw the shotgun aside and pulled out a Pattern 1914 Enfield rifle. He wasted no time in firing at Melody who dodged it effortlessly. She responded by firing a bolt of electricity at him which he had to roll away to prevent himself from being hit. He fired another round which Melody had to run away from.

"Go ahead, run! It makes killing you so much more fun!"

Carter let the normally calm demeanor that ne usually had drop as he went into full on killing mode. He unloaded shot after shot in the hopes of striking Melody. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his hand, which caused him to drop his gun. Looking down, he saw that an arrow was sticking out of his palm. Carter pulled it out and let out a sound of pain. Then he reached into a pouch at his side and pulled out his father's machete. He turned back to face Nora again.

"Well come on then! Let's end this!"

Nora fired an arrow which Carter managed to block by holding his blade right in its path, slicing it in half. Nora fired off another arrow which managed to stick Carter in the leg. This time he just left it in its place. Then he bent down to his boot and pulled out a small knife which he threw at her. The knife hit its mark in Nora's shoulder, who let out a cry of pain herself. She pulled out the knife and fired a third arrow. It struck Carter in the other leg, halting the running he had made in the moments she was distracted by the pain. Then she fired off two arrows at once which embedded themselves in his kneecaps. Carter let out an angry yell of pain. Nora took the opportunity to fire off another two arrows which landed in his shoulder blades. Carter fell to his knees and dropped the machete. Nora was upon him in seconds, driving him backwards and pinning him to the ground. She pulled out another arrow, put it in the bow, and pulled back, pointing it directly at Carter's head.

"Well played, well played indeed."

"Say good night laddie."

And thus Nora let the arrow fly, embedding itself in Carter's head and killing him.

Nora allowed her a few seconds to catch her breath. Then she regained her composure and ran along with Melody to check on Audrey. Melody was kneeling down beside her, a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

Nora interrupted them.

"Are ya alright Audrey?"

"No I'm not! Chad is dead! What am I supposed to do now?"

"Look I know this must be tough but we have other problems we have to deal with now. So get up and get back to fighting."

"But Chad's dead! I can't just leave his body here-"

"Look around you! This whole world is going to hell! And right now we need to focus on staying alive! If you want to honor what your jo than keep on fighting!"

Audrey wept away the tears at her face. Then she picked up Chad's dropped sword and pulled herself up.

"You're right. I have to be strong or Chad will have died for nothing."

"That's the spirit. Now come on, this day is far from over."

And cue me losing half of my subscribers for killing off Chad. Well, for those who are still with me please leave a review.


	16. Duel of the Fates

The moment Mordred hat waited for so long had finally arrived. Here he was, standing amongst the flames that heralded the end of all things, and across from him stood his Father. King Arthur held Excalibur in his left hand and wore an icy look of hatred in his eyes.

"Well Father, you must have known this day would come sooner or later."

"Sadly, yes. I knew there was only one way for this to end."

"Come now. After all, the circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the pupil. Now I am the master."

"Only a master of disappointment, my son."

"Shall we cut the formalities and end this once and for all?"

"Yes, let's end this son."

And with that Mordred firmly grasped his sword Stormslayer and charged at his father. Arthur readied his stance and firmly planted his feet in the ground, anticipating the attack. When Mordred drew near, he brought his sword down on Arthur who blocked it in time with Excalibur. Their swords connected and Mordred began exerting all his force forward, trying to force Arthur to his knees. But Arthur had experience and training from Merlin on his sword, and using his own force he was able to use his strength to push Mordred back. In a split second, Arthur tried to slash at Mordred who blocked his blow in time. Again their blades locked against each other, and Arthur and Mordred both took the time to look at each other again with looks of hatred and anger.

"You cannot hope to win Father. I have darkness and much more energy on my side. What do you have?"

"What do I have? I've been doing this far longer than you have, son. I taught you how to use wield your first sword. I united Camelot together. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't even be called a Prince. And what shame you have brought to your title. So you'll forgive me if I'm not exactly intimidated by you."

They broke off from each other and put some distance between them. Then they charged at each other again, and their blades locked again. Hard as it was for them to accept it, the two were evenly matched.

"It's not too late son. If you surrender now, I can make sure you get a light sentence."

Thanks for the thought Dad, but there's no turning back now."

And again they broke off from each other and charged at each other. Parry after parry, none of them could land a blow on the other. Then finally for what seemed like forever, their blades locked once again. But this time, Mordred kicked his Father in the stomach in a quite dirty move. Arthur leaned back in pain and dropped Excalibur. Mordred seized this opportunity. Sheathing his sword, he then tackled his father to the ground, foregoing all sportsmanship he displayed earlier, and began unleashing punch after punch on his father.

"All those years spent living in your shadow! All those years of people saying how great it must be to have such a decorated hero for a father! Of people expecting me to be just like you! Only now am I truly free to be who I am really am father! And as you can see, I'm a lot happier now!"

But as he went to deliver another punch, Arthur dug deep within himself and blocked the last one Mordred threw. Then he started applying pressure, making Mordred wince in pain as Arthur slowly got back to his feet.

"And as I said son, you are such a disappointment!"

Arthur then delivered a punch of his own right to Mordred's face, which seemed to knock him out. Arthur then took a minute to catch his breath and went over to where he dropped Excalibur and picked it up.

"I'm just glad I didn't have to use you, my old friend."

Arthur was broken out of his daze by a sharp screaming. He turned around to see Mordred running at him with his sword out. Arthur simply held his sword straight forward and charged. Within seconds Mordred's body was impaled on Excalibur, blood coming out of Mordred's mouth.

"I'm sorry that it had to come to this son."

Mordred could not believe this was happening. But he would not allow it to end this way. His left hand gripping his sword, he then lifted it up above his head in both hands and slashed it across Arthur's chest, leaving a deep wound with blood coming out of it.

"Smile for me in death, Father."

With his last breath finished, Mordred died content. Arthur died after crawling a few feet away. Across the battlefield, Pluto was watching all of this unfold.

"And so ends the reign of King Arthur."


	17. Hooked on a feeling

Boom!

That was the sound to be heard across the battlefield as Kat threw bomb after bomb out and watched in sadistic glee as they exploded, causing damage to anyone unfortunate to be in its radius. Doug tried to charge her and engage her in sword combat. Sadly, for his troubles all he received was a pistol shot in the kneecap.

"I tell you what, when Pluto plans an apocalypse, he sure doesn't hold anything back. This is the most fun I've had in ages."

Suddenly she was hit from behind. It was Quasimodo, who hit the back of her head with a beam he was carrying. It knocked Kat face first onto the ground.

"You know when Ben first proposed to bring villain kids to Auradon, I was the most opposed to that. If there's anything Frollo taught me, it's that some people never change. You and your friends have sadly proven me right. So now, I must kill you to uphold the peace we have established here."

Quasimodo turned Kat over to face her. But to his shock, she held in her arms a small blunderbuss. And it was pointed right at him.

Blam!

The shot hit him point blank in the chest. The pain seared throughout his entire body. Within seconds Kat was up on her feet again. She delivered a kick to Quasimodo, sending him flying backwards. She then put her boot on the bullet wound and pulled out her cutlass.

"Word of advice, never give your opponents time to recover. Now I must end this."

She went to deliver a stab to Quasimodo's sternum. But suddenly she was interrupted by someone calling out to her.

"Step away from Quasimodo!"

Kat turned. She could see Joselyn and Carroll facing her, with their swords drawn and anger in their eyes.

"Oh isn't this cute. So you think the two of you can take me on together huh? Well that doesn't seem very fair now does it?"

Kat then pulled out an extra sword she had on her right side.

"Let's even the odds then."

Thus Kat charged at the two girls, her blades flying to try and slash them. Joselyn and Carroll got their swords up just in to block her. Kat pushed forward with her body weight to try to force them to their knees. But the two girls held their own and pushed back against her onslaught.

"Look at you! Fighting for a ridiculous idea that everyone is equal! What a joke! It's pathetic! Pluto sees things the way they really are! When he's done with things, your dumb ideals will be revealed for the deception they are! Why do you still fight for them?"

Carroll frowned and disengaged from Kat. She jumped over her head and delivered a slash to her stomach, trying to catch her unprepared. Unfortunately Kat saw this coming and blocked with one of her swords. Carroll delivered her own slash to her unguarded right side. But Kat was able to block that attack as well.

"You want to know why we continue to fight for our ideals? Because that's what Auradon was founded on, what it stands for! Its ideas like that which has given us years of peace and stability! And quite frankly, we fight for our ideas because it's better than the alternative."

Joselyn let out a laugh at that.

"Yeah. I mean total annihilation of everyone on all the worlds just so your boss can sort out his Daddy issues? Thanks but no thanks."

Kat frowned at this then disengaged from her enemies. She did a backflip to create some distance between herself and her enemies, than pulled out a bomb and lit it.

"Let's see how your ideals stack up to this!"

She threw the bomb at her enemies. Unfortunately for Kat, this one had a longer fuse. While it was waiting to explode, Carroll ran over, picked it up and threw it away into the sky, where it exploded harmlessly away from them.

"Alright Kat, now where have you got to?"

Carroll turned around and to her surprise, found that Kat had snuck on Joselyn and put her in a hold with a pistol pointed right at her head. Carroll pulled out her own pistol in response and pointed it at Kat.

"Drop your weapon now or I put one in her pretty head!"

"Don't listen to her Carroll!"

Carroll just looked at Kat with anger in her eyes. But then she looked to Joselyn and her face was replaced with one of concern.

"I'm sorry Joselyn."

And Carroll knelt down to drop her pistol.

"Carroll, no!"

But suddenly Carroll sprung back up and fired her pistol. Traveling fast, the bullet found its mark; Kat's eye. Kat fell back in pain and landed flat on the ground. Carroll reloaded her pistol and pinned Kat's left arm down. Joselyn did the same with Kat's right arm.

Kat looked at them with as much hatred as she could muster, blood coming out of her eye where the bullet had hit her.

"Just end it already."

"I take no pleasure in this."

And Carroll fired her pistol right into Kat's head, killing her instantly.

Joselyn looked at their fallen opponent with a face filled with regret. Then she turned to Carroll.

"Thanks for saving my life."

The two girls ran over to Quasimodo, who's chest was covered in blood. Joselyn tried to tilt his head up.

"Quasimodo! Can you hear us?"

Quasimodo slowly opened his eyes but didn't look at the girls. Instead his gaze was directed forwards, toward the sun.

"Do you two see? It's beautiful."

"What? What do you see?"

"Heaven's light."

And then Quasimodo's breathing stopped and he laid still. Joselyn sat his head down on the ground and closed his eyes.

"Go in peace, bell ringer."

Carroll looked at the battlefield and the carnage that surrounded them both.

"The battle is nearly over. Now all hope rests on Mal."


	18. You want it darker? We kill the flame

Mal finally confronted Pluto. She had fought her way to face off against him through his undead forces and taken down many enemies. He on the other hand, stood across from the battlefield smoking a cigarette as if it was a normal day.

"Hello there Mal. You know I had a thought not too long ago. Isn't it funny how the world is burning all around us, with many people and evil forces fighting to their very end, and it all comes down to two people?"

"Stop with the small talk Pluto. I've come here to put an end to your schemes right now. Through any means necessary."

And with that Mal put on Yen Sid's hat and tucked the Olympus Stone in her picket. She was prepared for anything Pluto would throw at her.

"I recognize that hat. It's said to have untold power. Not that it will help you any. So tell me Mal, how do you want to die? The quick, incinerating flash of an explosion!? Or a nice, SLOW BURN!?"

Pluto threw away his cigarette and his arms were out, firing out bursts of flames directly at Mal. Mal simply threw up a protection spell to shield herself from the attack. Regardless, Pluto continued with his assault.

"Still going on the defensive, are you? I guess no one ever told you that if you want to win a fight, you have to have a good offense!"

Mal pushed Pluto back with her spell. Then with him disoriented, Mal created a small shockwave by clapping her hands together. Pluto was sent further back from the impact.

"No, but they did teach me to wait for the right moment to strike!"

Mal began making gestures with her arms. The water near the cliff started to move uncontrollably as she began to control them. Then suddenly she summoned a gigantic tidal wave which she sent flowing directly towards Pluto. The resulting force sent him flying backwards until he landed. His body was sizzling in pain.

"Damn it! You really hurt me with that one. But it will take a lot more to do me in."

Then he summoned a small knife out of thin air which he pointed directly at Mal in a menacing manner.

"You know, as a death god, I have knowledge over a thousand ways to kill you. But I think I'll enjoy this one the most. Because I have to get up close and personal!"

Then he teleported into smoke. He appeared behind Mal and attempted to slash at her stomach. But Mal sensed it coming and leaped out of harm's way. Pluto simply teleported again and tried to slash her again. This time Mal caught his hand before he could touch her. Catching his fist with one hand, Mal shoved the other hand to the center of Pluto's chest. Within seconds, Mal's hands were shooting electricity throughout Pluto's body. When she was finished, Pluto was again sent flying backwards, this time into a mountain. The knife fell out of his hands when he landed to the ground. But to Mal's horror, when he got back up, Pluto was laughing.

"Oh thank you Mal! Thank you for making this a challenge! That will only make it so much sweeter when I kill you!"

He then put both his hands together and began shouting in a language Mal did not understand. Soon his hands, his legs, his entire body began to glow a bright red. Within seconds, he had become a lava golem.

"Now you die Mal!"

Pluto brought up his lave engulfed hands and prepared to bring them crashing down on Mal's head. To his surprise, she teleported away at the last second.

"Hey! Behind you!"

Pluto turned around. Mush to his surprise, Mal was now floating in the sky behind him, her hand glowing with magic energy.

"Are you seriously flying?"

"Yes I am. To be honest, I didn't think that would work."

Then she fired a freeze spell at his right arm, engulfing it in ice. Though it temporarily hurt him, he immediately had his arm free.

"Mediocre! You'll have to do better than that Mal!"

Deep down, Mal knew he was right. So she landed and looked directly at Pluto. To his surprise, her eyes were filled with a dark green glow.

"Here's a little trick I learned from my mother!"

And suddenly Mal was engulfed in a green flame that covered her entire body. When it disappeared, in her place stood a giant, purple dragon.

"Now that's more like it! Oh this shall be glorious! The Daughter of Maleficent versus the son of Hades with the fate of the world in the balance! Do be a dear and not hold anything back."

Pluto brought his arms up above his head again and tried to bring it down on Mal's head. She responded by taking to the sky. Once she was airborne, she let out a huge torrent of flame. Pluto simply laughed.

"What that supposed to hurt me? You're literally adding fuel to that fire with that."

 _He's right,_ though Mal. _I need a different attack if I'm to stand a chance._

Digging deep within her mind, Mal looked at all the spells that were now at her disposal thanks to the hat. So many options, but she needed something potent if she wanted to inflict any real damage. Finally she came across the spell she needed.

 _This should do it._

Using her horns as a channeling device, Mal began summoning electricity. She then launched it right into his chest, which caused him to recoil back in pain and sizzle again.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Leveling the playing field!"

And with that Mal fired off another blast of electricity which hit him in the chest as well. Seeing that this was the perfect opportunity, Mal flew back a distance and landed. Grinding her feet against the ground, she then took off in a charge at full speed. She collided with her target and hit Pluto point blank in the weakened chest. The resulting impact shook Pluto and was powerful enough to send him flying from his lava form and crashing into a mountain. Mal flew to where he had landed and transformed back to her human form. She walked up to him and kicked his face.

"Look around you! Look at all the death and pain your selfishness has caused!"

"You see pain and death. You want to know what I see? A joke. That's what this all is: one gigantic joke. These whole heroes, villains, happy ever after, none of it matters in the end. I'm just here to complete the punchline."

"Why did you do it? You could have come to Auradon; we would have helped you."

"You really don't get it do you? Well you and your bloody friends may have spent your childhoods, but at least you had your parents. At least you had each other. I looked at the sight of you all and the people of Auradon and it made me sick. So I made a promise to myself, a promise that everyone would share in my misery."

"Well stop it, please. This cycle of hatred must end now; it's not too late for you. I turned my back on evil, and you can too."

"Sorry, but it's too late for me."

"No it's not. If there's one Ben has taught me, it's that it's never too late for forgiveness."

Pluto looked as if he was really sorrowful. Then he looked up to Mal.

"Do you really think redemption is possible for someone like me?"

"I do, if you would only let us help you."

She then extended her hand to Pluto to help pull him up off the ground. Pluto considered it for a few seconds then took her hand with his. An overwhelming sense of accomplishment swelled within Mal.

But then Pluto flashed his evil grin.

"Did you really forget what my hands could do?"

Suddenly Pluto grabbed her wrists with his hand. Before Mal could fight back, he was sucking the life force away from her. She found herself growing so weak that she was forced to one knee. When Pluto was down, he threw her away. Mal looked at her hands to see they had turned a burning red.

"Yes! Now that's more like it! Do you know what you've given me Mal? Power! Unlimited power!"

"What did you do to me?"

"You really don't remember, do you? I just sucked your life force to completely heal me. I'd wager I just sucked away 9 years from your life. So all in all, I've taken ten years away from you."

Then he summoned a giant sword made of fire

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going to kill you."

He then teleported. Mal looked up to see him descending from the sky above. Mal teleported herself away before he could embed his sword in the ground where she had been. Pluto responded by launching a fireball at nowhere in particular out of frustration. Desperately, Mal began looking around for something she could use. Then she saw it: the knife Pluto had dropped earlier in their fight. She extended her arms to cast a simple summoning spell.

"To me!"

In an instance, the knife appeared in her hands. Then she heard Pluto call out to her.

"THIS ENDS NOW, BITCH!"

He teleported again. This time Mal had an idea where he would come from. Sure enough, he appeared above her and began descending, trying to embed his sword in her.

Got to time this just right, she thought to herself.

But Pluto began descending faster and faster until finally he had landed, with his sword in her stomach. Mal coughed up blood. Knowing she would not get another chance, she brought the knife up in a stabbing motion, hoping to find its mark.

And she found it.

The knife was embedded in Pluto's abdomen. As if stopping all of his momentum, Pluto simply stood in place, astounded that this was happening.

"Go back to the Underworld! And take your army with you!"

Enraged, Pluto tried one last time to attack her, but Mal simply pulled the knife out. A white light began emanating from his body, followed by many more appearing. Within seconds, his body was covered with the white light, and he exploded. The resulting shockwave sent Mal flying back until she hit her head on a rock, rendering her unconscious.

With their leader defeated, the Underworld army turned into puffs of smoke and began making their way back downwards. Victorious, the forces of Auradon let out a celebratory cheer. But Ben broke away from the crowd, intent on finding Mal. When he found her, she was in terrible shape.

"Oh my god Mal!"

He ran up to her and put his head to her chest. She still had her heartbeat.

"Thank goodness. Just hang in there Mal. I'll make sure you recover. Someone please help us! I need a medic over here!"


	19. Heaven knows, We belong way down below

In the deepest depths of the Underworld, Hades was standing in front of his son and his friends, who were now held in chains.

"Well welcome back son. For someone who hated me so much I had no idea you wanted to meet again so soon."

Pluto only glared at Hades with all the hatred he could muster.

"Oh and by the way, you remember how you asked me why I relinquished my power so willingly? Well let me tell you something."

Hades then delivered a series of punched to Pluto's face.

"IT'S BECAUSE THE GOOD GUYS ALWAYS FIND A WAY TO WIN! That's a lesson I learned the hard way with Jerkules. No matter how big your schemes or how evil your plans, they always sneak in a victory at the last second. And now you've learned it as well."

Hades then summoned a portal which leads into the area below them, filled with the souls of those who had died.

"That, my dear son, is Tartarus. It's a place reserved for the most evil of souls, which you four more than qualify for. You see, if you had lived your life like your goodie two shoes enemies at Auradon, you might have gone to Elysium. But you didn't, so now you'll spend your afterlife in there instead. Enjoy!"

Pluto spoke up for the first time since they had arrived.

"You think that this pit can hold me forever, Father? Mark my words, I will escape someday, and I will have my revenge."

"And I'm actually looking forward to that. Until then, be seeing you!"

Hades snapped his fingers and the four of them disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Pain and Panic watched their souls descend into Tartarus.

"He's not going to be happy when he gets out of there."

"You mean, IF he gets out of there."

"If. If is good."

Hades ignored them and summoned a giant smoke mirror which revealed a photo of Mal.

"Now, how can I get Maleficent's little brat down here?"

In the infirmary at Auradon Academy, many people sat recovering from their wounds sustained in the battle. Four friends in particular hang over one special bed, hoping their companion would recover.

" _How is she?" Asked Jay._

 _The nurse said her wounds have begun to heal. Now we just have to wait until she comes out of her coma," said Carlos._

" _I hope she wakes up soon," said Ben with a hint of worry in his voice._

Upon hearing her boyfriend's voice, Mal began to stir. Her eyelids began to flutter until they slowly opened. She tilted her head up to find her friends looking at her.

"Mal! Thank goodness you're awake!" Evie said. She then gave her best friend a hug, which caused Mal to wince in pain.

"Sorry," Evie said sheepishly as she pulled away from her friend.

"What happened? Where am I?" she asked.

Ben put his hands on her to calm her.

"You're in the infirmary at the school. After the battle, you were badly wounded."

Suddenly memories came flooding back to her.

"I remember Pluto stabbed me through the chest with his sword."

"Yeah, well thankfully you killed him not long after that. We were able to get you to Ruby quick enough for her to use her hair to heal your wound. Unfortunately after that you fell into a coma for three days."

Mal looked at Ben's hand and enjoyed the feeling of it against her own. Then something caught her attention; both of her arms were bandaged.

"Why are my arms bandaged?"

Jay spoke up.

"When we found you, your arms were badly burned. They're not life threatening, but because they were caused by Pluto when he was a God, sadly the mark will be with you forever."

"Show me."

Her friends looked at each other, unsure if that was the right thing to do. Then Ben and Carlos unwrapped her left and right bandages. Mal found herself starring at her arms, which were now a bright red.

"Mal, do you remember anything else about what happened between you and Pluto?"

"Yes. When he burned my hands, he sucked away more of my life-force."

A worried look crossed Ben's face.

"How many years?"

"9. So all together he stole ten years from me."

Her friends looked at her with sad faces. Mal became serious and turned to Ben.

"How many people were killed today?"

"Well we lost a lot of soldiers. Many of them were killed by Pluto's forces. Mordred killed King Arthur. Kat killed Quasimodo. And Chad was killed by Carter. Sadly we couldn't get Ruby to them before they passed on."

"And Doug was shot by Kat as well. He's alive but she paralyzed him," said Evie.

Mal hung her head low.

"So many lives lost to maintain peace. If I had taken care of Pluto earlier, how many lives could I have saved?"

"Mal you mustn't blame yourself. Everyone knew the risks when they joined the battle. Even if you had killed Pluto earlier, people would still have died defending Auradon."

Mal just nodded her head and moved to get up. But unfortunately her body was in too much pain. Evie reached out and helped guide her head back to her pillow.

"The doctors say you're in no condition to leave yet. So just stay here and get some rest."

Ben pulled out a watch to look at the time.

"Actually, we have to be going now. Mal, we'll see you later."

"Where are you going?"

Ben's face turned serious.

"We have funerals to attend to."


	20. No one mourns the wicked

It was a dark day at Auradon Academy. Clouds were beginning to form in the sky. Student and teacher, commoner and royalty, all gathered in this one location wearing black and looking somber. The Auradon youth choir was in the front of the church, singing _The Sounds of Silence_. Not one face sported a smile on this day of mourning. And Ben was standing under the stained glass window at the front of the church. Then the doors opened. In came his father, dressed in his finest black suit, followed by other people of high prominence. They included Merlin the wizard, who's normally happy go lucky smile had been replaced with a look of absolute sadness. Then there was Prince Charming, Chad's father. And there was also Esmeralda, Quasimodo's oldest friend. They all came in carrying coffins decorated with flowers. The coffins were sat down in front of the altar and the adults took their seats. Ben cleared his throat and stepped up to the podium. He looked around him. In the front row, Audrey and Cinderella were crying at the loss of Chad. Aurora was doing her best to comfort them. Phoebus was wearing his usual stone like expression but Ben could tell he was also troubled by Quasimodo's death. And near the back Doug sat in his new wheelchair with Evie next to him, who was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. But pulled out a piece of paper from his coat pocket and began to talk.

"Fellow citizens of Auradon, we are gathered here today to mourn the loss of those who gave their lives defending the freedom and peace that we cling to so dearly. In front of me lie three such individuals. I first met Chad when we were both younger and learning to rule by our respective fathers. He wasn't exactly the easiest of individuals to get along with. But he had a good heart and was loyal to the end. And for those reasons he will be missed dearly by his friends and loved ones."

Ben ended his speech and stepped aside as Merlin made his way up to the podium. Merlin took out his glasses, put them on, and then began speaking.

"I first met Arthur was he was a small lad. I didn't know why at the time, but there was something about him. So I took him under my wing and taught him the ways of the world. When the time came he was able to pull Excalibur from the stone and was thus made King. I've been around the world more that most men, I've seen nearly everything it has to offer, and yet I consider that my greatest accomplishment. So I guess it's only fair that I consider letting Mordred's heart fall to darkness my greatest failure."

Merlin couldn't go any further as tears started forming in his eyes. He excused himself and Esmeralda made her way up to the podium to give a speech on Quasimodo. Ben didn't pay attention to it. He simply excused himself and left the church. He went into the courtyard to be lost in his thoughts.

 _Chad, Quasimodo, Arthur, and countless others. All lost under my rule. All lives I should have been able to save. But I couldn't. Damn it!_

Ben wished there was something in front of him to punch to take out his anger on.

"Ben?"

Ben turned around. Evie, Jay, and Carlos had followed him to check how he was feeling.

"Are you alright man?" Carlos asked.

"Am I alright? Of course I'm not. Auradon Prep is in ruins, many people are dead, and it's all my fault. I should have exercised better judgement. If I had only captured Pluto when we had him cornered in Prydain, then maybe this could have been prevented. Everyone who we lost in the battle, their blood is on my hands-"

Before Ben could go any further, Evie wrapped her arms around him in a hug, bringing his rambling to an abrupt halt.

"Don't blame yourself for this. Their deaths are not your fault, nor are anything else about this whole mess."

"Yeah man, you did the best you could and helped to prevent the end of all life as we know it. We'd stand beside you again in a heartbeat if we had to prevent a disaster like that," said Jay.

Ben just hanged hid head low.

"I'm not fit to be a king. I don't have what it takes to be a leader."

"Mal never thought that. She wouldn't have stood by your side at the end of all things if she thought you were unworthy. You just have to pick yourself up and guide everyone forward."

Ben tilted his head up.

"Thank you, all of you."

Suddenly they were interrupted by Ben's father arriving.

"Son, they're getting ready to take the caskets away. We need you for this."

"I'm coming Dad."

Ben followed his father back into the church.

"What's going to become of the bodies?"

"Mordred is going to be transported back to Camelot to be laird with Arthur in Avalon. Carter and Kat will be sent back to the isle to be buried by their parents. Quasimodo will be buried in the cometary outside Notre Dame. And Chad's burial will be handled by Cinderella and Charming."

Ben nodded in grim acceptance of these facts.

 _Two Months Later_

Ben stood outside Auradon Academy looking at a memorial. It had recently been built in honor of those who gave their lives defending Auradon from Pluto's annihilation. Ben just stared at it in contemplation.

"Hey."

Ben turned to see Mal walk towards him. Her usual smile was replaced with a solemn look of sincerity. Ben looked at her red arms.

"You've been coming out here a lot lately"

"I like reminding myself of their sacrifice so we never forget the cost of freedom."

Mal wrapped her arms around Ben in a loving hug.

"You seemed to have healed well."

"It hasn't been easy, but I think I've recovered enough. The damage Pluto did to me, I'll just have to deal with for the rest of my life, no matter how much I have left."

"So what happens next? Where do we go on from here?"

"We move on with our lives, and see where our paths take us."

"And if Pluto or something like him threatens our livelihood? What then?"

"We do what we always do against a threat like that: we fight."

Mal wrapped her hands with Ben's.

"Just know that whatever the future brings, I will be by your side."

Ben smiled at her and pulled her in for a passionate kiss, taking comfort in the knowledge that whatever the future held, she would be there with him.


End file.
